LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - AUGUST 06: Boston Celtics teammates Marcus Smart #40, Jaylen Brown #33, Jayson Tatum #34 and Kemba Walker #26 of the 2019 USA Men's National Team pose together during a practice session at the 2019 USA Basketball Men's National Team World Cup minicamp at the Mendenhall Center at UNLV on August 6, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
With the NBA season set to resume on July 30 at Walt Disney World in Orlando, the Boston Celtics are in prime position.
Before the coronavirus pandemic halted play, the Celtics sat in third place in the NBA’s Eastern Conference standings and a 43-21 record.
What’s the secret? Team chemistry.
“I think that there is a genuine love for one another,” TNT’s Jared Greenberg told me on the Scoop B Radio Podcast.
“I think that there’s more trust in that locker room than there has been in recent years. It seems like they’re having more fun; and it’s like they’re almost more free flowing.”
That’s a good word from Greenberg and word’s have turned into action on the basketball court.
Insert Kemba Walker, the key that starts Boston’s engine.
“The one thing that I have got from the Celtics this year is that Kemba is so aware of what is going on with his teammates on the court,” said Greenberg.
“In the past, and this is not to take shots at anybody — but in the past, it was kind of like a caste system. Like certain guys had to get certain shots at certain times.”
Averaging 21.2 points, 4.1 rebounds an 4.9 assists per game this season for the C’s, the UCONN legend and Bronx, New York native is clicking on all cylinders. Earlier this season, Celtics forward, Jaylen Brown gushed at how much Walker has meant to the team. “You learn a lot about people when they go through adversity,” Brown told me.
“Team USA together, experiencing that whole trip – losing, coming up short. You learn a lot about people and how they feel about you and how they carry themselves. Everything Kemba does is first class.”
Brown himself is something to write home about with averages of 20.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Jayson Tatum is the huge contributing piece to Boston’s puzzle with season stats that tally out to 23.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. “Now, if it’s Jayson Tatum that is going off, then Jayson Tatum has GOT to get the ball,” Jared Greenberg tells the Scoop B Radio Podcast.
“You know, Kemba Walker’s going off, then Kemba’s gotta get the ball. Like, it’s just more awareness of what is going on and that builds confidence and it builds camaraderie, the chemistry is there, and it seems like they got back to having a little more fun than they had been in the previous years.”