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Much like everyone else in the NBA, the Los Angeles Lakers had their media day just before training camp was about to start. While answering questions from the media, Laker star LeBron James wanted to make one thing clear above all else – how much he, and the rest of his Laker teammates, hate the Boston Celtics.
“I still hate Boston,” James said. “Don’t get it twisted. We all hate Boston here.”
Being the star of the Celtics’ most prominent NBA rival, his hatred for the Celtics makes sense. However, James also has a storied rivalry with the Celtics, having played against them seven times in the playoffs – 2008, 2010-2013, 2015, 2017-2018 – which is more than any other team in the NBA.
This is also not the first time James has singled out the Celtics in 2022. In July, LeBron explained on an episode of “The Shop” that he hated the Celtics fanbase because of how racist they have been to him.
“Because they’re racist as f***, that’s why. They will say anything…I don’t mind it, if I hear somebody close behind, I’ll check it and I’ll move on to the game. They’re going to say whatever they want to say, they might throw something on you, I mean, I got a beer threw over me leaving a game,” James said.
Lakers Sign Ex-Celtic
After signing former Celtics guard Dennis Schroder to a one-year deal, the Lakers then signed former Celtics wing Matt Ryan to their training camp roster.
Ryan signed a two-way contract with the Celtics after the team had converted Sam Hauser’s two-way contract into a standard contract.
Ryan only played one game for the Celtics, which was their regular season finale against the Memphis Grizzlies where he made one basket.
Ryan was ineligible to play in the 2022 playoffs due to him being on a two-way contract. He was later added to their Summer League roster, where he averaged 19 points while shooting 55 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from three in 22.9 minutes a game, according to NBA.com.
The highlight of Ryan’s Summer League performance came when he hit a buzzer-beater against the Milwaukee Bucks while spraining his ankle at the same time.
Brian Robb of MassLive reported on August 16 that the Celtics were not planning to bring back Ryan.
“A league source tells MassLive that Ryan is expected to resume his career elsewhere next season amid a roster crunch in Boston. He’s not expected to be back for the 2022-23 campaign.”
Celtics Linked to Ex-Laker
When Danilo Gallinari went down with a non-contact knee injury that was later confirmed to be a torn ACL, the one name that came to mind for everyone as his possible replacement was Carmelo Anthony.
While there had been speculation that the Celtics would sign Anthony to replace Gallinari, Brian Robb of MassLive shot down any belief that the Celtics had interest in Anthony on September 9.
“Multiple league sources tell MassLive that the Celtics are not expected to have interest in bringing in the veteran for a signing ahead of training camp,” Robb said. “Anthony isn’t a priority at this point at names that could be brought in.”
Heavy Sports’ Sean Deveney talked to an Eastern Conference executive who explained why the Celtics weren’t interested in adding him.
They like Melo, most teams do, but there is a fear that he could be disruptive — not him as a player, just his presence. So it’s likely a no. It’s a distraction, and teams want to avoid distractions,” the exec said. “It all adds up to it being a lot of smoke around him, but I don’t see any real fire there.”
Anthony remains a free agent.
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