Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

Olynyk, who was thrilled that Turner visited his Olynyk Klynyk basketball camp in Olynyk’s native Kamloops, British Columbia, earlier this summer, said Turner’s departure will leave a void in Boston’s locker room. But he is thrilled for his friend.

“Unbelievable guy. It’s too bad that he had to go,” Olynyk said Wednesday during a visit to Canobie Lake Park before a Shamrock Foundation event. “It was good for him — really good for him. It’s tough. The business is different. You see over the years, you get close to guys, you have great teammates like Evan, but they have to do what’s best for them.”

 

[…]”He’s somebody who really helps guys out. I think that his voice, that’s something that people respect. He just keeps it real, keeps it 100 every time you talk to him. You know what you’re getting from him. And he’s going to give you his honest opinion. I think that’s something that’s really important.”

ESPN Boston: Kelly Olynyk on pal Evan Turner: ‘It’s too bad that he had to go’

Turner $70 million reasons to leave for Portland (I’m still curious about how they’ll use him), but the Celtics will miss some of the things he was able to do for that second-team offense. Most of this responsibility will likely fall on Marcus Smart, and this will definitely be something to watch this upcoming season.

Oh that photo of Kelly and Evan is from a Halloween visit to sick kids in the hospital dressed as Mario and a Mutant Teenage Ninja Turtle. Those guys seemed to have a nice rapport.

But enough about this… you’ve heard it all before. The REAL story here is that Kelly Olynyk was back in Canobie Lake Park… where this amazing photo was taken during a previous visit.

Well… he did it again. It’s not quite as good… but it’s still pure Kelly.

This dude loves that flume.

And if you’re looking at this picture wondering how his injured shoulder is holding up during amusement park rides…

He said Wednesday the shoulder was “ready to rock” when it came to the amusement park and that he is progressing well toward training camp.

“You can put a lot of work in during a month to get it stronger,” he said. “It’s coming along. The motion is pretty good. I’ve just got to get it stronger and give it time to heal.

“We’ll get everybody together (when camp begins) and see if it’s ready, but also see when is the best time to ease into it and gradually roll things out.”

Finally… the most important part of yesterday is how Olynyk really connected with kids who come from a tough situation. 

The twenty-two kids, ranging from ages four to fifteen, were all either adopted or foster children brought as part of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children’s cooperation with the Boston Celtic’s charitable arm, the Shamrock Foundation. The crowd of kids, adults, and members of the media eagerly awaited the arrival of Celtics player Kelly Olynyk, who has now taken part in the annual visit in all of its four years.

“The kids are really excited — they didn’t sleep last night,” Mary Wallace, a foster, biological, and adoptive parent from Billerica, said.

When Olynyk arrived, he quickly took the opportunity to introduce himself to the kids, asking them about their interests or nicknames, getting down to their level — figuratively and literally, considering he is seven feet tall. The kids responded eagerly to the attention in turn, showing off their muscles for the athlete and holding his hand around the park.

“When the kids are smiling, laughing, having fun,” the player said, “we’ve accomplished something.”

That’s a hell of a day for them, but I’m pretty sure no one had more fun than Olynyk himself.

Page 2: Larry Bird had the 7th best season ever

The last of the Bird MVP trilogy was Bird at his finest. His standard numbers, which his MVP was measured by at the time, were 25.8 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 6.8 APG and 2 SPG. A deeper dive into modern stats and you’d see that Bird deserved every bit of the MVP threepeat. He led the League in Win Shares (15.8), Player Efficiency Rating (25.6) and Value Over Replacement Player (8.7). He even took home the trophy for the NBA’s inaugural Three-Point Contest.

In fact, the 1986 season was Bird’s sixth consecutive season finishing top two in the MVP voting, and what made this year so special was how dominant the Boston Celtics were. The Celtics won 67 games, the second highest total of the NBA’s most storied franchise.

Bird’s cocksure demeanor spread across the roster like fire, giving the Celtics an air of invincibility. If the 1985-86 Celtics team played today, they’d be up there with the 2011 Miami Heat and this year’s Golden State Warriors as a loathed team. There was no “Midwest nice” to be found from Bird. He’d beat you and let you know all about while doing so.

NBA.com: #HOOP10 No. 7 Larry Bird 1985-86

Larry was so good. Just… sooooooo good. I really wonder how much better he’d be in today’s run-and-gun, 3-point-heavy NBA. He barely took 3’s even though he was really, really good at making them. This season he had was one of the most dominant years anyone has ever had… and worth confirming through hours of YouTube searches.

Just go do it and thank me later.

And Finally…

I don’t know who the hell this guy is… but… damn….

Here y’all go… (2 angles) pic.twitter.com/EwJsxvHK0l

— J2 (@jordynadams10) August 25, 2016