BOSTON — Even the great ones end up tilting at some kind of windmill, and prior to the Boston Celtics’ 139-107 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night, the great obstacle in Kemba Walker’s career had been any team led by LeBron James.
Walker was 0-28 – 24 regular-season games and four in the playoffs – against the Lakers star during his career in Charlotte. One game into his Celtics career, that changed. But Walker has nothing but respect for this adversary.
“I mean I know everybody is making a big deal about the record and stuff, but I have the utmost respect for LeBron and he’s one of the greatest players of all time,” said Walker, who scored 20 points against the Lakers.
“If anybody (was) the guy I couldn’t beat, it would be him. He’s such a great player and he’s done so much in this league. He’s been so far. So it just feels good to win. I’m more excited about the way we played and the way we came out, especially with the struggles that we had in the past, in the last couple weeks really. That’s what I’m more excited about.”
Too strong 💪
JB with tonight's @JetBlue Play of the Game https://t.co/homu0NVh4s
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 21, 2020
WELCOME TO THE CLUB: Jaylen Brown joined teammate Jayson Tatum in the “Dunked on LeBron” club Monday night at TD Garden with a monster two-handed slam over James.
“I just made a play at the rim. I ain’t gonna lie though, it was pretty nice,” Brown said.
The play was the highlight of a dominant win for the Celtics, who emerged from a three-game slump with speed and scoring. But when asked to stack his dunk against Tatum’s 2018 slam in the Eastern Conference Finals, Brown said his teammate put James on a better poster.
“I’ll give it to him, yeah, in the playoffs,” Brown said. “But LeBron, he’s gotten so many other guys, so just to be out there playing against one of the best players to ever play the game is an honor. I always like that matchup, it always gives me an extra boost.”
Brown said he and James did not exchange words after the game.
BRADLEY RETURNS: After all that history, in some of the most dramatic playoff scenarios imaginable (Celtics vs. Miami, Celtics vs. Cleveland), Avery Bradley, Rajon Rondo and LeBron James all have a lot to talk about now that they’re Lakers teammates.
“It’s different, man,” Bradley said before Monday’s game against his original team. “Me, (James) and Rondo make jokes about the rivalries we had back in the day. Now I have an opportunity to play with one of the best players to ever play, if not the best. It’s fun, man. He makes the game a lot easier. I’m able to learn from him. He simplifies the game for everyone at both ends of the floor. It’s a great experience, not only playing with him but (Anthony Davis) as well. It’s extremely fun.”
It’s also, to hear Bradley tell it, quite unexpected where joining his former Celtics teammate is concerned. Bradley came under Rondo’s tutelage as a Celtics rookie, and blossomed into one of the NBA’s premier defenders. Indeed, Rondo once cracked – not joked – after Danny Ainge traded him to Dallas that he let Bradley do all of the defensive heavy lifting.
“That was my role, too,” said Bradley. “Rondo was such a focus in the offensive end for our team, my role was to guard the best guard every night. But we enjoyed it. We complimented each other very well.”
And of all things, they’re together again. Rondo was one of the first Lakers Bradley talked to before deciding to sign as a free agent last summer after finishing 2018-19 with Memphis.
“I didn’t,” Bradley said of whether he thought he would ever play with Rondo again. “It was crazy. Once the opportunity presented itself it was almost like a no-brainer, knowing I had the chance to play with him again. We both felt like we wanted the opportunity to play with each other again.
“There were some opportunities of some places longer term, But I felt this would be the best situation for me at this point in my career,” he said. “Get out of my comfort zone, get a chance to play with a team that had a chance to win a championship. That’s what this game is about, trying to win championships. Spoke to Rondo, spoke to a few guys on the team and I felt like this was going to be the best opportunity for me.”
And now he’s starting in one of the most celebrated lineups in the game.
“It’s been a blessing for me with the team they’ve been able to put together, and this opportunity,” said Bradley. “The players I’m blessed to play with this year, I feel like it’s a great opportunity, great situation, great atmosphere. Makes it simple as far as getting to certain spots on the floor and knowing they’ll make the right play. I feel like everyone is doing a great job accepting their roles and buying into team basketball.”
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