LAS VEGAS — Of all the Celtics‘ offseason acquisitions, Sam Cassell may be the most natural fit.
After 14 years as an NBA player — the last of them with the 2008 champion Celtics — and 14 more as an assistant coach in the Association, he seems a perfect fit for Joe Mazzulla‘s staff. He had been assisting Doc Rivers in Philadelphia, and when Doc’s tenure ended, Cassell was a prized free agent. He got some looks for head coach openings, but Boston proved to be the best available option.
“Joe made this happen,” Cassell told Heavy Sports before the Celtics began play in the Las Vegas Summer League. “He’s watched me work a couple of guys out before and wanted to understand my personality and how I link to players. We have some mutual friends that he contacted, and we just made it work.”
The 6-foot-3 former point guard has a very good idea of what works, and he’s about as up-front and direct as it gets.
“I’m just very truthful with players, man,” he said. “Sometimes they don’t like it, but I speak the truth. I speak to the game plan of the head coach, and I tell them what the head coach expects. Sometimes players try to be reluctant to take that, but I think I have a way that I can be 100% honest with a player without them taking it personally. And that’s a trait that I know I have.
“I’m a great listener to players; I’m a former player, so I understand what they’re going through. Like I tell them all the time, I’ve been each player on a team, from the top guy to the 15th player. I’ve been all those guys. I understand what those guys are going through mentally.”
Sam Cassell 🤝 @TheJetOnTNT
Sam Cassell Has Long Been a Winner in the NBA
A first-round draftee out of Florida State in 1993, the Baltimore native was a champion with Houston his first two years in the NBA. He was an All-Star and All-NBA in 2004 with Minnesota as a teammate of Kevin Garnett.
They would reunite in Boston in March of ’08 for the title run after Cassell was bought out by the Clippers. He went for 7.6 points in 17.6 minutes in 17 regular season games with the Celts, before 4.5 points in 12.6 postseason minutes. In eight NBA stops, he averaged 15.7 points and 6.0 assists.
More important in the Celtics’ near future, he had a front row view as his Sixers met for seven games in the second round of the most recent playoffs.
Cassell’s take on the Celtics?
“We’ve got a chance, man,” he told Heavy. “We’ve got a chance. You’ve got the talent here. You’ve got to have health and chemistry. They are ready.
“You know, I saw how it looked when the Celtics won their last championship. I was a part of that team. And once we get that thing accomplished, it’s a beautiful thing to win a championship in Boston. It’s awesome to be back in The Bean, especially when you’ve won there before. I know how passionate the fans are. Boston has passionate fans, man, and they just want to have passionate players.”
Cassell Is a Patriots Fan
Cassell knows about passionate Boston fans, because he is one when it comes to the Patriots. So much a Pats fan is he that he wore the club’s gear around L.A. when he was on the Clippers’ staff and New England was matching up with the Rams in the Super Bowl four years ago.
“I p***** off a lot of Rams fans,” he said with a smile.
The root of his Patriots fandom dates back to when free agent linebacker Adalius Thomas signed with New England in 2007.
“He played for my hometown team, the Baltimore Ravens, and me and him became good friends,” Cassell said. “When he signed that big free agent contract with New England, he gave me a Patriots jersey. He said, ‘This is who I’m with now. I’m a Patriot now, so now you’re a Patriot fan.’
“I became a Patriots fan just like that. My whole family are Ravens fans, but I became a Pats fan and I’ve stuck with them. I’m an avid Patriots fan, man. My family kills me when the Patriots lose.”
That he gets to back the Pats from far closer to Foxborough is just one of the benefits of his new job. But he’s channeling the far greater majority of his passion to the Celtics now.
“I can’t wait,” Cassell said.
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