Getty Marcus Smart #36 of the Boston Celtics drives the ball against Duncan Robinson #55 of the Miami Heat
The Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics have a storied history of speaking out about each other in the media. Pat Riley has perhaps the most epic statement in the war of words between the two franchises when he said, “Danny Ainge needs to shut the f— up and manage his own team,” in a statement. Kevin Garnett regularly sounds off on the Heat and LeBron James. Udonis Haslem does what UD does and backs up the Heat and Heat Culture, and Haslem was ready to step up in those heated battles.
“Much respect to the career that Kevin Garnett had and the success that he had,” Haslem said. “But the s— that come out his mouth sometime ain’t got nothing to do with basketball and is the most disrespectful s— I ever heard in my life. For me in situations in the Boston Celtics series that got hot and heated, I needed Chris (Bosh) to step up one time and I would’ve handled the rest. But it never got to that point.”
On Wednesday, one Heat player lobbed criticism Boston’s direction, but it wasn’t about the players or the franchise. It was about the team’s facilities. Duncan Robinson called the Celtics opposing team locker room as the worst in the NBA and compared it to a high school locker room.
Duncan Robinson on Celtics Visiting Locker Room
“If you walked in and said, ‘This is a high school locker room,’ I would say that’s a s***** high school locker room,” ‘Robinson said on the latest episode of his Long Shots podcast.
The quote came in a conversation Robinson was having with Milwaukee Bucks shooting guard Pat Connaughton, who quickly agreed with Robinson, declaring it the worst he has seen professionally.
“The Boston Celtics locker room is the worst visiting team locker room in the NBA,” Connaughton said.
Both players spent a decent amount of time in said visiting locker room. Their comments come after being eliminated in this year’s postseason by the Celtics. Will the comments lead to any sort of renovations by the Celtics to the TD Garden arena? It is unlikely but could lead them to.
Future of Udonis Haslem
Udonis Haslem, the Heat’s enforcer whose quotes towards the C’s and Kevin Garnett were shared above, has a big weekend ahead.
On Sunday, August 21, the Heat veteran is set to declare if he will return for his twentieth season in Miami next year at his basketball and cheer camp at Miami High School, where he played prior to attending the University of Florida.
Haslem’s most recent statements left much to the imagination on where he was leaning about returning as a player or in another capacity in Miami.
“I don’t know,” Haslem said after completing a presentation on behalf of his foundation. “We’re thinking about it. But either way, I’m always going to be a part of the Heat family. I ain’t going nowhere, whether I play or not. I’m always going to impact that organization.”
What Haslem decides will help determine much for the Heat locker room because if he signs, the team will be at its luxury cap limit and will be unable to sign any other players.