Miami Heat

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Isaih Moore scored 16 points and Fresno State beat the last unbeaten team in the nation, topping No. 21 New Mexico 71-67 on Tuesday night.
Isaiah Hill added 14 points, making three free throws in the final seconds to wrap up the victory for the Bulldogs (6-8, 2-1 Mountain West).
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely a physical fight tonight,&rdquo; Hill said. &ldquo;It came down to some free throws, and we had to make them.&rdquo;
Jemarl Baker added 13 points and five assists, and 6-foot-11 Eduardo Andre, averaging just over four points a game, scored a career-high 12 and had eight rebounds.
&ldquo;This group has been working really hard, and they stick with it, and that&rsquo;s what it&rsquo;s about, right?&rdquo; Fresno State coach Justin Hutson said. &ldquo; To continue to stick with it, stick through the good times and bad times. We&rsquo;ve had some defeats that we didn&rsquo;t like.&rdquo;
After sitting out for over nine minutes of the second half with four fouls, Andre returned with 20 seconds left and the Bulldogs leading 70-67. He blocked a layup by Jamal Mashburn Jr. and grabbed the rebound, leading to Hill&rsquo;s final free throws.
The Lobos came in as the last remaining unbeaten Division I team after No. 1 Purdue&rsquo;s loss to Rutgers on Monday. The 14-0 start was their best since a school-record 17-0 in 1967-68.
&ldquo;I told the team we have to keep it in perspective,&rdquo; Lobos coach Richard Pitino said. &ldquo;We are 14-1. It&rsquo;s been an unbelievable run to go two months without a loss. It is tough to win on the road, especially in conference. We will try not to get too emotional about this, but just get back home and learn from it.&rdquo;
Mashburn finished with 22 points for New Mexico (14-1, 2-1). Morris Udeze added 18 and Jaelen House had 15.
&ldquo;It kind of went the other way than some of those close games that we won at the end,&rdquo; Pitino said. &ldquo;They made one or two plays more than us, one or two more free throws than us. The game went the way I thought it would go. They slowed down the pace.&rdquo;
There were 19 lead changes and 13 ties in a game in which neither team led by more than eight. Moore made the go-ahead basket with 1:30 to go after Josiah Allick had given the Lobos their final lead on two free throws. The Lobos didn&rsquo;t have a field goal over the final 4:30.
Fresno State led 36-32 at halftime but the Lobos quickly overtook the Bulldogs in the opening minutes of the second half. The Bulldogs regained the lead with eight minutes left and the game went back-and-forth from there.
Fresno State snapped a 28-game losing streak to teams in The Associated Press Top 25, the last victory coming over No. 14 Oklahoma State on Feb. 10, 2002.
The Bulldogs have won the last seven meetings with the Lobos and the eight straight on their home court.
HOUSE-FUL OF SCORERS
House became the fourth member of his extended family to score 1,000 career points. His father, Eddie, had 2,044 career points from 1997-00 at Arizona State; grandfather Henry Bibby scored 1,293 points from 1970-72 at UCLA and uncle Mike Bibby scored 1,061 points at Arizona (1997-98).
UP NEXT
New Mexico: Hosts UNLV on Saturday night.
Fresno State: At Colorado State on Saturday.

Isaih Moore scored 16 points and Fresno State beat the last unbeaten team in the nation, topping No. 21 New Mexico 71-67.

Fresno State edges last unbeaten team in No. 21 New Mexico

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Makai Ashton-Langford had 21 points and seven rebounds, hitting a 3-pointer with 36 seconds left in overtime to clinch a win Wednesday night for Boston College over No. 21 Virginia Tech 70-65.
Devin McGlockton added 18 points and seven rebounds for the Eagles (7-6, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), who have won back-to-back games to snap a four-game losing streak. It was Boston College&rsquo;s first win over a ranked team since 2020, making it the first for second-year coach Earl Grant.
Sean Pedulla and Justyn Mutts had 18 points apiece for Virginia Tech (11-2, 1-1), which had won six in a row.
NO. 1 PURDUE 74, NEW ORLEANS 53
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Redshirt freshman Trey Kaufman-Renn scored a season-best 24 points to lead Purdue past New Orleans.
Kaufman-Renn hit 8 of 10 shots and 8 of 10 free throws for the Boilermakers (12-0). The only other Boilermaker in double figures was Mason Gillis with 11 points.
The Boilermakers played without 7-foot-4 center Zach Edey, who was sidelined by illness.
Jordan Johnson scored 17 points to lead the Privateers (3-8), who have lost five of their last six games. Tyson Jackson had 14 for New Orleans.
NO. 3 HOUSTON 83, MCNEESE ST. 44
HOUSTON (AP) &mdash; Ja&rsquo;Vier Francis scored a career-high 23 points and had 13 rebounds as Houston routed McNeese State.
Emanuel Sharp added 18 points while going 6 of 9 on 3-pointers for the Cougars (12-1), and Marcus Sasser hit 5 of 10 from long range and scored 17 points. The pair combined to shoot 9 of 14 on 3s in the first half.
Roberts Berze scored 13 points and Christian Shumate added 10 for McNeese State (3-10). The Cowboys lost their fourth straight game.
NO. 7 TEXAS 100, LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 72
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Freshman Arterio Morris scored a season-best 25 points in just 18 minutes in Texas&rsquo; victory over Louisiana-Lafayette.
Timmy Allen and Marcus Carr scored 17 apiece for the Longhorns (10-1), whose 100 points were a season-high and their most since a 105-59 victory against Northwestern State on Nov. 10, 2017.
Jordan Brown, a 6-foot-11 forward, led Louisiana-Lafayette (10-2) with 20 points.
NO. 8 TENNESSEE 86, AUSTIN PEAY 44
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Olivier Nkamhoua scored 20 points to lead Tennessee to a victory over Austin Peay.
Santiago Vescovi had 18 points, shooting 5 for 5 on 3-pointers, and Jonas Aidoo set a career high with 10 points and matched his career best with nine rebounds as the Volunteers (10-2) cruised in their final tune-up before the start of Southeastern Conference play next week.
The Governors (6-7) were led by Sean Durugordon and Elijah Hutchins-Everett with 11 points each.
NO. 10 ARKANSAS 85, UNC-ASHEVILLE 51
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Graham scored a season-high 16 points and Arkansas breezed past UNC-Asheville.
Graham, who hadn&rsquo;t played more than 11 minutes in a game this season, logged 19 minutes and shot 8 of 10 from the field as the Razorbacks (11-1) shot 53.3% overall.
Arkansas was missing standout freshman Nick Smith Jr.
Taijon Jones led UNC-Asheville (8-5) with 14 points and Jamon Battle scored 10.
NO. 13 UCLA 81, UC DAVIS 54
LOS ANGELES (AP) &mdash; Jaylen Clark had 18 points and 11 rebounds as UCLA returned from a productive East Coast trip to earn a victory over UC Davis.
Tyger Campbell scored 17 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 14 as the Bruins (11-2) won their eighth consecutive game.
Elijah Pepper scored 16 points for the Aggies (7-5), just under his 20-point average per game. Robby Beasley added 14 points and Ty Johnson had 13 points for UC Davis.
NO. 19 KENTUCKY 88, FLORIDA A&amp;M 68
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) &mdash; Cason Wallace scored a career-high 27 points to help Kentucky beat Florida A&amp;M.
Wallace scored the first seven points of the second half for the Wildcats (8-3) as they took a 69-48 lead. The Rattlers (2-8) answered with a 14-0 run, cutting the deficit to seven points on Jaylen Bates&rsquo; 3-pointer. Wallace steadied Kentucky with a jumper and an assist on Antonio Reeves&rsquo; dunk.
Bates led the Rattlers with 21 points and Dimingus Stevens added 13 points.
NO. 20 TCU 75, UTAH 71
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Emanuel Miller had 21 points and seven rebounds and TCU beat Utah.
Mike Miles added 18 points for the Horned Frogs (10-1), and center Eddie Lampkin had 10 rebounds in his return from a back injury.
Gabe Madsen made seven 3-pointers and scored 26 points &mdash; both career highs &mdash; for Utah (9-4). Marco Anthony added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Branden Carlson had 14 points and eight rebounds. The Utes have lost two in a row.
NO. 23 AUBURN 84, WASHINGTON 61
SEATTLE (AP) &mdash; Jaylin Williams scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half, Johni Broome also scored 18, and Auburn ran away in the second half for a win over Washington.
Chris Moore added 12 points and Wendell Green Jr. added 11 for Auburn (10-2), which shot 21 of 29 (72.4%) in the second half and led by as many as 27.
Keion Brooks Jr. led Washington (9-4) with 15 points and Koren Johnson scored 12.
SAN FRANCISCO 97, NO. 25 ARIZONA ST. 60
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Khalil Shabazz scored 26 points and San Francisco routed Arizona State to end the Sun Devils&rsquo; nine game winning streak.
The Sun Devils had entered the AP Top 25 poll on Monday for the first time since their No. 23 ranking on Dec. 7, 2020.
The Dons opened the game on a 24-2 run, had a 27-point advantage at the break and a 47-point lead with about six minutes left.
Isaiah Hawthorne added 19 points for San Francisco (10-4). Tyrell Roberts scored 14 points.
DJ Horne and Duke Brennan scored 12 points apiece for Arizona State (11-2).

A recap of Wednesday night's men's college basketball slate includes the upset-minded Eagles taking down the Hokies.

Boston College beats No. 21 Virginia Tech 70-65 in overtime

Recently, the John Wall Foundation hosted an event at The Salvation Army, where John Wall opened up about how difficult the last few years have been for him. The five-time All-Star described the last few years as &ldquo;the darkest place I&rsquo;ve ever been in.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&ldquo;At one point in time, I thought about committing suicide,&rdquo; Wall admitted. &ldquo;I mean, just tearing my Achilles, my mom being sick, my mom passing, my grandma passing a year later &mdash; all of this in the midst of COVID at the same time&hellip; me going to the chemotherapy and sitting there, seeing my mom take her last breath, wearing the same clothes for three days straight and laying on the couch beside her. My team, the mother of my kids has been great, my two boys, it's my motivation for me. Looking at all that, I'm like, 'If I can get through this, I can get through anything in life.'
"Everybody goes through something, we all went through tough times, nobody's got it easy. But I don't think a lot of people could get through what I went through. To me, to be back on top where I want to be and see that the fans still want me to play, having support from my hometown, their support means a lot in a time where I had to go find a therapist.
"A lot of people think, 'I don't need help, I can get through it,' but you gotta be true to yourself, find out what's best for you, and I did that. I'm just happy to have this opportunity to play basketball again. I think everything I have been through has all been a part of God's plan&hellip; Even though I was in a dark place the last couple of years, I'm super excited... to play the game that I love."
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This admission sent shock waves throughout the entire sports world.&nbsp;
I reached out to former Washington Wizards center Marcin Gortat, who played with Wall for five seasons, to have a discussion about his former teammate.
Etan Thomas: What were your thoughts when you heard John Wall&rsquo;s interview detailing everything he has been through?&nbsp;
Marcin Gortat: &ldquo;First of all, I was shocked. I didn&rsquo;t know that he was going through so many different issues. I was a witness a couple years ago while we were teammates and there was this little 6-year-old girl, Miyah Telemaque-Nelson, who <a href="https://twitter.com/johnwall/status/537085825767735296?s=21&amp;t=isslghfV3tQMWGH-SXWKbg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he had really connected with</a> who passed away from cancer. He had been raising money for her and doing charity work for her, and I remember the big impact her death had on him. He literally broke down during a postgame interview where he dedicated the game to her.&rdquo;
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Thomas: Yeah, I remember seeing that video. He really took that hard.
Gortat: &ldquo;Even harder than most people know. He was really down for a couple of weeks after that. So when I heard that he lost his mom and then his grandmother, I thought back to how hard he took [it] when little Miyah passed away. After hearing this past interview, I felt bad. Like as a former teammate, I should&rsquo;ve been supporting [him] more. Yeah, I texted with him a couple of times while he was in Houston. I knew he was struggling with the situation as far as the team and them pushing him to the side, so I knew that alone was catastrophic for him because I know how much he loves basketball. But couple that with losing people as close to you as your mother and grandmother [and that] had to have been just devastating.&rdquo;
Thomas: He mentioned that he has a positive outlook now and feels optimistic with his new situation with the Los Angeles Clippers, so that was good to hear.&nbsp;
Gortat: &ldquo;Yeah, I&rsquo;m hoping that basketball will be something that can help him since he seems to be in a much better situation with the Clippers so that will occupy his mind and his emotions somewhat, but I really hope he heals and gets all of the support toward his healing.&rdquo;
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Thomas: I definitely agree. One of the things that bothers me is when I hear different fans or people on social media or in the sports media reporting on rumors that are just inaccurate. They cast a negative light on an athlete based on these rumors. Stephen A. Smith <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/clippers/news/stephen-a-smith-apologizes-to-john-wall" target="_blank" rel="noopener">publicly apologized</a> to John for his role in demonizing him last season in Houston. I was glad to see him do that because the media really went after John Wall and swayed public opinion on him in a very cruel and uninformed way.&nbsp;
Gortat: &ldquo;Yeah and that&rsquo;s very unfortunate that that happens a lot in the media nowadays, but this is how it is in this league. A lot of people owe John Wall an apology. I understand the media has to write something or say something on their shows that&rsquo;s controversial and that gets all of the people&rsquo;s attention because that&rsquo;s what they are paid to do. But people who know John know that they were unfairly demonizing him. Not that he&rsquo;s perfect, nobody is perfect. Did he make mistakes? Yes, but everybody makes mistakes. But he is not the person they were making him out to be, and it&rsquo;s terrible how much that happens.&rdquo;
Thomas: I had a debate with David Aldridge and Marc Spears about the power of the media. Marc came out publicly and said that he regretted doing the interview, but I was trying to explain to them the power that the media has to sway public opinion, and how the media should be held accountable when they talk recklessly. And they just weren&rsquo;t willing to accept that the media has that kind of power. But this is a prime example. It&rsquo;s good that Stephen A. publicly apologized, but hopefully that changes the way he and many others in the media target players and demonize them because it happens too often. Just here with the Wizards, I saw it happen with Kwame Brown and with Chris Webber after he got traded (back when they were the Bullets). It really happens way too much.&nbsp;
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Gortat: &ldquo;I definitely agree. So let me say, as someone who played with John Wall for many years: When he is healthy, he is one of the best point guards in the league &mdash; hands down. The guy is a beast. I don&rsquo;t know what Houston was doing with him. That was completely absurd. Here you have a guy of his caliber and you have him sitting at home? Not even on the bench, but at home? I can&rsquo;t imagine how he felt going through that for [an entire] season? And to have these prominent people in the media vilifying him while he is going through all of this, as he&rsquo;s dealing with injury after injury and losing his loved ones?&rdquo;&nbsp;
Thomas: Yeah, I don&rsquo;t care if anyone says there wasn&rsquo;t any cruel or malicious intent behind their reporting &mdash; that doesn&rsquo;t mean that it wasn&rsquo;t still cruel and malicious.&nbsp;
Gortat: &ldquo;Exactly! Many people think athletes are like robots &mdash; like video game characters who just perform, and that&rsquo;s not true. We are human beings with emotions and we go through tragedies and hardships in life, but are still expected to push all that to the side and perform at the highest level every night. I remember seven or eight years ago when DeMar DeRozan was in Toronto and he was going through depression and he said that he was going to the games, but he wasn&rsquo;t really thinking about the games because he was dealing with so much personally.&nbsp;
&ldquo;The NBA is getting better at helping players now when they are going through tragedies, but we still have a long way to go. I remember my fourth year and definitely my fifth year playing in Washington &mdash; specifically when things with me and John were not the best &mdash; there was a lot that I was dealing with and I didn&rsquo;t have too much help. But honestly, it wasn&rsquo;t a concern. Many people just wanted me to perform and push my personal life to the side, and sometimes that&rsquo;s hard to do.&rdquo;
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Thomas: &ldquo;I can definitely attest to that. I lost my grandmother, who I was really close with, while I was playing with the Wizards. And I remember our trainer, Eric Waters, trying to rush me back and I was like, &ldquo;Can you give me a minute please?&rdquo; When I came back, that&rsquo;s when I had the first issue with Brendan Haywood. Normally, I would&rsquo;ve ignored him throwing tantrums over not getting enough playing time, but that day just wasn&rsquo;t the day, so I flipped on him. The team actually formed a human barricade and escorted him out of the locker room. Then, everyone &mdash; Ernie Grunfeld, Eric Waters, Coach Eddie Jordan &mdash; was like, &ldquo;What&rsquo;s wrong? Why did you get so upset?&rdquo;&nbsp; And I was like, &ldquo;I told y&rsquo;all I needed a minute!&rdquo;
Gortat: &ldquo;Yeah, and my issues with John kind of formed in a similar way, to be honest &mdash; because I was holding so much in and suppressing what I was going through and reacting to different things on the court like not getting the ball as much as I wanted to or us losing games I felt we should&rsquo;ve won. Interesting, I didn&rsquo;t know that&rsquo;s what started y&rsquo;all&rsquo;s issues.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Let me tell you this quick story. I went to Cleveland and I was on this stupid streak of 250 or 280 or something games [in a row] without missing a game, so I was playing like three seasons straight. And all of a sudden in December, my mom had a stroke. I got the message while I was in Cleveland and I was shocked. I broke down crying. They had found my mom after like a day-and-a-half, laying at home unconscious; my friend found her. So when I came back to the locker room that morning, I was there physically but I wasn&rsquo;t really there. But John and Brad [Beal] were the first people who said, &lsquo;Give him some space, let him go deal with what&rsquo;s going on with his family because that&rsquo;s bigger than basketball and he has our support.&rsquo; So, Coach [Randy] Wittman came down and told me, &lsquo;Go to Poland, don&rsquo;t worry about the team for now.&rsquo;
&ldquo;That meant a lot to me. They knew what I was going through. And when you&rsquo;re so close to a teammate, you feel their pain. And in turn, I know how close John was with his mom. He talked about her all the time. When we finally sat down and squashed our issues, we had a real &lsquo;kumbaya moment.&rsquo; We talked about all of our personal struggles, all that we were dealing with and had been dealing with. We cleared the air and connected on a whole &lsquo;nother level as teammates, and it was exactly what we needed. So, hearing last week that my teammate contemplated suicide was devastating. Yeah, we had our issues in the past, but none of that matters now. I am cheering for John and want him to be successful both on and off the court.&rdquo;
Thomas: I&rsquo;m glad we did this interview, to have us &mdash; two former Wizards &mdash; encourage our brotha. You know, once a Wizard, always a Wizard. I really want to see him do well too. I was already rooting for him to really have a new beginning with the Clippers and shine like the old John Wall, but now I&rsquo;m rooting for him times 1,000.&nbsp;
Gortat: &ldquo;I couldn&rsquo;t agree with you more! I wanna see John demolish every other point guard in the league. Just go on a tear. I remember seeing him battle every game &mdash; Kyrie Irving, Derrick Rose, Chris Paul &mdash; and people forget how good he was, how fast he was end to end, how explosive he was. John was special, and I want to see him get back to that. But more importantly, I want him to heal because he has literally gone through hell over these last years.&rdquo;

John Wall recently opened up about his struggles. Former Wizards centers Etan Thomas and Marcin Gortat discuss his comments.

Marcin Gortat: 'A lot of people owe John Wall an apology'

It still feels like yesterday.
Boston Garden was going crazy because we knew the championship was ours. Guys started celebrating, Paul dumped that red Gatorade on Doc&rsquo;s head and we all celebrated like 10-year-old kids.
Somehow, it&rsquo;s already been 14 years since we beat the Lakers in the 2008 NBA Finals, and even after all this time, I haven&rsquo;t forgotten those moments. It&rsquo;s like I have pictures ingrained in my head.
And going back to where it all went down to join my teammates to honor Kevin Garnett &mdash; even after all these years, man, Boston still feels like home.
I feel so blessed to have been able to play a part in such a great team accomplishing the ultimate goal. And we all felt like we played a small part in Ticket&rsquo;s jersey getting retired.
Last weekend, I was invited by the Celtics organization to attend Kevin Garnett&rsquo;s jersey retirement ceremony. It was scheduled to happen during Sunday&rsquo;s game against the Mavericks, and a bunch of the members of the 2008 team got together and spent the entire weekend in Boston. It was amazing.
It was like the band was back together. Just like old times, I was hanging out, cracking jokes and reminiscing with Paul Pierce, Big Baby Davis and Eddie House. I got to chop it up a bit and catch up with Danny Ainge. And of course, I got to not only catch up with Ray Allen and KG; I got to see them publicly, and once and for all, squash whatever beef they may have had.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
About last night. Appreciate the love as always <a href="https://twitter.com/celtics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@celtics</a> Great to be HOME<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KGweekend?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KGweekend</a> <a href="https://t.co/Vt5ZRqw8bP">pic.twitter.com/Vt5ZRqw8bP</a>
&mdash; James Posey (@James_Posey41) <a href="https://twitter.com/James_Posey41/status/1502702175775907840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Sometimes in life, one tiny decision you make ends up having such a huge impact. Before I signed with Boston, I really thought I was going to New Jersey to play with Jason Kidd and the Nets. But for a few reasons, I ended up heading to Boston instead.
One of the things I&rsquo;ll always remember about being a Celtic was the fact that when I came to Boston, I was the only player on the team who had already won a championship. Doc would sometimes ask me questions in front of the team and want to get my perspective. He&rsquo;d ask me about things that Pat Riley preached and habits that Dwyane Wade and Shaq had. He figured that I&rsquo;d gotten the top of the mountain, so I at least knew what the view looked like, you know?
But even though I had that experience, being around Ticket was just different.
He was so easy to rally around because he made it his personal duty to do all that he could to push everybody around him. And even after all these years, he still has the same unique energy.
When Ticket walks in the room, it&rsquo;s like you immediately get on guard. He just makes you want to be sharp and on point. He has the same energy today, but it was that times 10 when he was your teammate pushing you on the floor.
Everyone on the 2008 team just has a special love and appreciation for Ticket.
So being able to reconnect with guys that you won a championship with and doing it in honor of someone who helped to bring out the best in you, that just made the entire weekend in Boston all the more enjoyable.
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It felt like everywhere we went in the city this past Friday and Saturday, people loved us and respected us and knew us by name. With the Celtics organization itself, they treated us like first-class citizens and made sure we were taken care of.
Not only does Boston remember what we achieved, they will never stop showing us love. And we owe a lot of that to KG. It was nice to see him get the highest honor that an organization is able to bestow on one of its own.
What I&rsquo;ll remember most from that weekend &mdash; aside from Jaylen Brown&rsquo;s <a href="https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1503106193102831620" target="_blank" rel="noopener">monstrous dunk</a> over Maxi Kleber &mdash; was KG shedding tears as he saw his jersey go up into the rafters.
A couple of us, including Big Kendrick Perkins, may have had one or two side bets about whether Ticket would cry. KG himself didn&rsquo;t think he would crack, but he obviously couldn&rsquo;t hold it all together, so we at least have something to tease him about the next time we see one another.
When I replay the weekend in my head, though, I kept finding myself thinking about Ray Allen. I was happy to see him there, but wasn&rsquo;t surprised that he attended.
I knew that everything that was said about him after he left for Miami would eventually become water under the bridge. But I knew that because I was a member of that team. The guys on that 2008 team simply loved each other too much and had too strong of a bond to let Ray&rsquo;s decision to leave ruin the bond forever. Even as words were exchanged over the years, I had all the confidence in the world that KG and Ray would bury the hatchet, and it unexpectedly happened during KG&rsquo;s moment.
While being interviewed during his jersey-retirement ceremony, out of nowhere, Ticket basically interrupted the interviewer just to say that it was good to see Ray there. Everyone started cheering before the two met at halfcourt and hugged.
As great as he was, Ticket was truly unselfish. So I guess it was fitting for him to share his moment in the spotlight with Ray and finally, publicly, squash the beef.
Nothing says &ldquo;brother&rdquo; more than that.
I think what most people don&rsquo;t really understand about being a pro athlete is how strong the relationship between teammates can become. The longer guys are together, the deeper the connection usually gets. And when you actually have success as teammates and when you win a championship together, it&rsquo;s almost as if the bond is solidified. And I speak from experience. Not only do you become members of an elite fraternity together, you helped one another get there.
Deep down inside, I think Ticket and Ray both had those feelings about each other.
After what&rsquo;s been said over the past few years, that was a beautiful thing to witness, and I&rsquo;m happy I was there in person to see it.
I&rsquo;ll never forget seeing KG and Ray hugging and jumping up and down at halfcourt at TD Garden back in 2008. It truly feels like yesterday.
In honor of Kevin Garnett &mdash; our leader and the engine that pushed that team &mdash; no other Celtic will ever wear No. 5.
I&rsquo;m proud to call him a friend and a teammate, and even prouder to see him receive the ultimate honor.
Fortunately, I have some new memories that I&rsquo;ll forever cherish.
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James Posey recounts his trip to Boston for Kevin Garnett's jersey retirement, which basically became a 2008 Celtics reunion weekend.

Even after 14 years, I was right at home with Kevin Garnett in Boston

Tyler Herro and Jimmy Butler each scored 21 points, and the Miami Heat pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 99-82 on Saturday night.
Gabe Vincent scored 16 points and Caleb Martin added 14 for the Heat, who are 11-2 in their last 13 games. Miami was again without Kyle Lowry, who missed his fourth consecutive game because of personal reasons.
Miami went 3-1 on the week against four East contenders, beating Chicago, Brooklyn and now Philadelphia. The only loss was at Milwaukee, a game where the Heat led by 14 midway through the fourth quarter before collapsing.
Joel Embiid finished with 22 points and 15 rebounds for Philadelphia, which held out James Harden on the second night of a back-to-back as he recovers from a left hamstring injury. The 76ers had a season-low in points and fell to 1-14 when scoring less than 100 points.
Tyrese Maxey added 17 points for the 76ers, who ended a five-game winning streak. Tobias Harris added 16 for Philadelphia.
The win gave Miami (43-22) a season-high three-game lead in the Eastern Conference over the second-place 76ers (39-24), with Milwaukee and Chicago (both 39-25) 3 1/2 games back.
&ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t look at the standings,&rdquo; 76ers coach Doc Rivers said. &ldquo;What do they matter? You have to win. And I swear to God, after 82, someone&rsquo;s going to tap me and say &lsquo;This is who you&rsquo;re playing.&rsquo; ... You can only control what you can control. The other stuff is for everyone else to talk about.&rdquo;
It was the first time since a three-game stretch in mid-December where Philadelphia trailed by 20 in consecutive outings. The 76ers trailed by 21 against Cleveland on Friday night before rallying to win 125-119.
The biggest deficit Saturday was 20, with Miami taking a 40-20 edge on a 3-pointer by Martin with 8:03 left in the half. Philadelphia went on a 12-2 run to cut the margin in half over the next 3 minutes, but Miami wound up taking a 54-40 edge into the break.
In the third, the 76ers kept chipping away. An 11-2 run got Philadelphia within two, before Vincent made a 3-pointer to end the quarter and send Miami into the final 12 minutes with a 73-68 lead.
Miami then outscored Philadelphia 26-14 in the fourth.
TIP-INS
76ers: Philadelphia remained 12 wins shy of 3,000 all-time, a milestone only the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers have reached. ... Embiid got his ninth rebound with 3 seconds left in the first quarter. He didn&rsquo;t get his 10th until 9:05 remained in the third quarter.
Heat: Duncan Robinson&rsquo;s first 3-pointer of the night was the 713th of his career, breaking a tie with Eddie Jones and moving him into No. 2 on Miami&rsquo;s all-time list. Tim Hardaway has the club record with 806, something Robinson has a shot of reaching before the season ends. ... Heat managing general partner Micky Arison was among those at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday for Mike Krzyzewski&rsquo;s final home game at Duke. Heat CEO Nick Arison was Duke&rsquo;s manager during his college days there.
SLAP HAPPY
Embiid flailed at a loose ball in the third quarter and wound up slapping Butler &mdash; his former Philadelphia teammate &mdash; in the side of the head, a play that did not appear to be intentional. Embiid went over to Butler and apologized but was given a technical anyway.
STAYING HOME
This was the opener of a stretch where Miami plays 11 out of 12 games at home. The Heat play one road game between now and March 30 &mdash; that being at Philadelphia on March 21. Miami has now played 29 home games so far this season, tied for the fewest in the league with Orlando, Houston and Denver. The Heat also have only five road games left, also tied for the fewest in the league with Orlando.
UP NEXT
76ers: Host Chicago on Monday.
Heat: Host Houston on Monday.

Tyler Herro and Jimmy Butler each scored 21 points, and the Heat pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the 76ers, 99-82.

Heat top 76ers 99-82, move 3 games ahead in East race

Jaylen Brown had 29 points, Jayson Tatum added 20 points and 12 rebounds and the Boston Celtics rolled past the Miami Heat 122-92 on Monday night.
Boston led by as many as 32 on its way to claiming its fourth victory in five outings. Marcus Smart added 16 points and seven assists.
It was Brown&rsquo;s fourth consecutive game with 25 or more points, and Tatum has scored 20 or more in his last six games.
The Celtics' onslaught was keyed on the defensive end, where they forced 18 turnovers.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re still working on some things, but I&rsquo;m very encouraged by the progress of our group," said Celtics big man Al Horford, who contributed 14 points and nine rebounds. "Now we can kind of see what we can do and who we are.&rdquo;
Miami has lost two straight and struggled mightily without several key players in the first of its six-game road trip: Jimmy Butler (toe), P.J. Tucker (knee) and point guard Kyle Lowry, who missed his eighth consecutive game for personal reasons.
In their absence, Max Strus finished 27 points. Caleb Martin had 14 points and Bam Adebayo chipped in 12 points, five rebounds and five assists. Miami also was coming off a triple-overtime loss to Toronto on Saturday.
&ldquo;We played about seven good minutes of basketball. The rest of it I would love to just put in a dumpster truck,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. &ldquo;It was just uncharacteristic for us. But we've been through a bunch of stuff in the last 72 hours.
The Celtics connected on eight of their first 11 shots and jumped out to a 21-7 lead. Miami struggled for quality looks on its end of the floor, shooting just 29% (6 of 21) in the opening period.
The Heat settled down, starting the second quarter on an 18-5 run to tie the game at 32. It prompted Celtics coach Ime Udoka to call a timeout. His team immediately responded with seven straight points to key a 22-13 run to close the half.
Udoka said the team heeded his message to limit the open looks for Miami's shooters.
&ldquo;We got our physicality back," Udoka said. &ldquo;Credit to our guys. They bounced back and finished out the half, then carried it over to the third quarter.&rdquo;
Boston led 67-52 in the third when Adebayo was assessed a technical at the 8:38 mark and pulled from the game by Spoelstra. By the time Adebayo returned with 2:04 left in the period, Boston's lead had grown to 86-67. The Celtics took a 94-70 edge into the fourth and cruised the rest of the way.
Smart said he feels like the team is finding its way after some rough patches earlier in the season.
&ldquo;I love it, especially with the adversity that we've been dealing with this whole season &mdash; the up and down, not being consistent,&rdquo; Smart said. &ldquo;For us to finally make start to make that walk in the right direction, it's big for us. .... It's something that we needed. It's happening at the right time for us.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Heat: Shot 39% (34 of 87) for the game. &hellip; Had five turnovers leading to 10 Boston points in the third quarter. &hellip; Rookie C Omer Yurtseven missed the game after being placed in the health and safety protocols.
Celtics: Had 16 3-pointers. &hellip; Outscored the Heat 40-25 in the third quarter. ... Shot just 5 of 12 from the free-throw line in the second quarter. &hellip; Recognized former players Eddie House (2007-10) and Brandon Bass (2011-15) in continuation of their season-long salute to past Celtics as part of the NBA&rsquo;s 75th anniversary season. House also played four seasons for the Heat. &ldquo;That was probably the only highlight of the night,&rdquo; Spoelstra said.
UP NEXT
Heat: At Toronto on Tuesday.
Celtics: Host Hornets on Wednesday.

Jaylen Brown had 29 points, Jayson Tatum added 20 points and 12 rebounds and the Celtics rolled past the Heat 122-92.

Brown scores 29, Celtics run past shorthanded Heat 122-92

I&rsquo;ve never taken anything in my basketball career for granted. I give thanks for the journey, for the experiences and for the fact that I can call myself a champion.
I also give thanks to Danny Ainge, Doc Rivers and especially my "Big Three" teammates in Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
Earlier this year, those last three guys were each named one of the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/there-were-major-snubs-from-nba-75-just-like-we-knew-there-would-be" target="_blank" rel="noopener">75 greatest players in NBA history</a>, and rightfully so. And when I talk about giving thanks for my journey, I look directly at the fact that I was blessed to play with seven guys who made that list.&nbsp;
In Miami, Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal, Dwyane Wade and Gary Payton <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/thanks-to-3-legends-in-miami-i-learned-how-to-become-a-winner" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed me and taught me how to become a champion</a>. And even though the experience in Boston was a lot different, there, I had the chance to put some of the lessons I learned in Miami to practice.
By the time I got to Miami, Shaq had already been there a year, and he was the only guy who had won a championship. Naturally, he sorta became everyone&rsquo;s big brother, for a few reasons. He was already a legend, he was a champion and we still respected him as our top dog.
That wasn&rsquo;t the case for me in Boston.&nbsp;
Even though I&rsquo;d won and Doc and my teammates respected me, I wasn&rsquo;t the team&rsquo;s best player. So even when Doc pointed out that I was a champion and asked me to share some wisdom, I don&rsquo;t think my words carried the kind of weight in Boston that Shaq&rsquo;s did in Miami.&nbsp;
But that&rsquo;s kinda what made the Boston experience so unique.&nbsp;
KG, P and Ray went out of their way to build a culture where everyone felt so welcomed and invited and just loved. We never really looked at the team as different classes of players. We all felt like superstars and genuinely enjoyed each other&rsquo;s company so much that we all just kinda formed one big clique.&nbsp;
When you have that kind of dynamic on a team, it makes you want to be better at your job because you actually feel invested. And if you&rsquo;re having an off day or you&rsquo;re not really getting the minutes or the shots you want, it&rsquo;s easy to be happy for whoever is having a &ldquo;good&rdquo; day because you genuinely care about your teammates.
I played for seven different teams over the course of my 12-year career in the league, and nowhere else was able to compare to the situation in Boston. I know it might sound corny, but it was truly a family. It felt like we were all superstars.&nbsp;
KG, P and Ray all made sure of that.
When I reflect back on my time as Ray&rsquo;s teammate, all I can look back and say is &ldquo;ultimate professional.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Ray truly treated his game like a job that he was very serious about, but not in a bad way. His work ethic was just insane, he&rsquo;d always go up and get shots up early before anyone else, and you could just tell that he was motivated to always be ready and to keep his skills sharp.
Whenever me or Eddie House or one of my other teammates beat Ray in a three-point shooting contest after practice, we would be on cloud nine. Honestly, we&rsquo;d be more surprised when he missed a decent look than when he made it. We just expected perfection from him, and he mostly delivered.
(Editor's Note: James Posey and Ray Allen chopped it up on "The Posecast" last season. Watch the full episode below.) 
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Maybe because he left for Miami, people got the impression that Ray was some kind of &ldquo;outsider&rdquo; while he was in Boston, but at least during my one year there, he was just another one of the guys. He was loved, and he loved us back. Maybe that&rsquo;s why those guys took him leaving so personally, but that&rsquo;s just a guess.&nbsp;
As far as Ray is concerned, he definitely approached his craft like it was his calling, and that&rsquo;s the reason he&rsquo;s the all-time leader in three-pointers made. That&rsquo;s why he was one of the Top 75 of all-time. No way we win without him. Ultimate respect.
KG? He was just another type of beast, altogether.&nbsp;
As great as Ticket was, when I look back at our team, he didn&rsquo;t seem to only work hard because he wanted to be great. He worked so hard because he wanted to lead by example and push us all to be the best players that we could possibly be.
Most veteran players pass knowledge and wisdom. KG did, too, but he also led by example.
Before I joined the team, I remember having a conversation with Sam Cassell. He told me that I was gonna love playing with KG because of how hard he works and how much he pushes. Sam was KG&rsquo;s teammate in Minnesota, so he knew what was coming, but even those warnings couldn&rsquo;t prepare any of us for what Ticket was.
Let me tell you this: KG never once mailed it in. Some superstar players might get tired of practicing or if you&rsquo;re about to go on a road trip or whatever; sometimes, they might just go through the motions. Truth be told, we all did&hellip; just not when KG was our teammate haha!
Ticket always gave 125% effort. He did everything with intensity and purpose. He played hard defense, he talked trash and he was out there leading the way &mdash; because he realized that he was helping to prepare us for the real competition. It&rsquo;s no coincidence that we won 66 games that year.
KG never took a day off, and as a result, our team eventually realized that every &ldquo;day off&rdquo; is one less day of preparation.
KG went so hard, that some days, Doc had to order him to take the day off. And yeah, some coaches might send a guy home for disciplinary reasons or throw him out of practice to make a point or whatever. But Doc himself would literally ask Ticket to chill for the day and get treatment sometimes because we all wanted to have a more calm practice.&nbsp;
Ticket didn&rsquo;t know how to chill.
&ldquo;If you step on this court, I&rsquo;m gonna fine you!&rdquo; I remember Doc yelling at him a few times.
&ldquo;Come on, Doc? How you gon&rsquo; be like that?&rdquo; KG said back.
Doc would even ask Ticket to just chill and be a coach in practice, and KG would flat out be like &ldquo;Nah, Doc, I ain&rsquo;t no coach. I ain&rsquo;t no coach right here. But maybe I can be a player-coach.&rdquo;
Crazy, man.
At the end of the day, though, practice was fun and competitive every single day. Some days the white team would win, some days the green team would win. We really looked forward to it and really made each other better. I honestly think KG helped Paul build better and more serious practice habits.
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And that brings me to P &mdash; Mr. Celtic himself.
Now, I could be wrong, but from afar &mdash; as much as I respected Paul Pierce, at least early on in his career &mdash; I didn&rsquo;t really think that winning at a high-level was his priority. I wondered if he was one of those players who just wanted to put up numbers, get paid and get respect, but not necessarily win.&nbsp;
Eventually, I think he approached a fork in the road wheree he wanted to prove that he could play the right kind of basketball and actually be a winning player. So when you tie that together with KG being a maniac and Ray&rsquo;s businessman-like example, Paul had some good guys around him that showed him what the work ethic looked like.
He was a great example of a player who, I think, changed his outlook and changed his approach, and was able accomplish the ultimate goal.
By the time we got to the Finals, I knew that we were a better team than the Lakers, but we all knew what we were up against with Kobe. Especially because we were the Celtics and he was looking to prove he could win without Shaq.&nbsp;
But more than anyone else, I think P knew that he came too far to let Kobe get his fourth ring at our expense, and for me, it was a &ldquo;Wow!&rdquo; moment to see him going shot-for-shot with Kobe in the Finals. I knew P was nice already, but for me, his performance during the 2008 Finals put him in a different category altogether.
Same goal, different players, different approaches, different lessons.
It&rsquo;s so crazy that I only spent one year in Boston. I&rsquo;m sad <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/the-nba-is-big-business-and-players-should-be-allowed-to-act-like-it" target="_blank" rel="noopener">it didn&rsquo;t last longer</a>, but &mdash; it&rsquo;s obvious since I talk about that team so much &mdash; I loved it there.
From playing cards at Paul&rsquo;s house or getting together with KG and his family and watching games at his house, we were a big family.&nbsp;
We won a championship together, and I know for sure if things worked out a little differently, we would&rsquo;ve gotten at least two.
Regardless, I look back on my time in Boston and cherish the memories. I also, obviously, cherish playing with and learning from three of the greatest to ever do it.

James Posey reflects on what it was like winning a championship as the teammate of three of the Top 75 Players in NBA History.

I’ll always cherish playing with 3 of the greatest ever in Boston

The <a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/eddie-house-thinks-lebron-is-not-the-goat-because-of-the-2011-finals-jordan-never-did-that/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-stringify-link="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/giannis-antetokounmpo-shares-why-he-doesnt-associate-or-practice-with-other-nba-players-in-the-offseason/" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">following article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="http://basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://BasketballNetwork.net" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">BasketballNetwork.net</a>:
If there is a player in NBA history whose career has been picked apart detail by detail, it&rsquo;s LeBron James. Since day one of his career, LeBron&rsquo;s every move has been in the spotlight as the proclaimed &ldquo;Chosen One&rdquo; had to live up to his nickname. Sure, LeBron brought the hype upon himself, but he delivered, accomplishing an illustrious career that is still going. Rings, MVP titles, All-NBA teams and numerous highlights all have contributed to "The King" and his legendary status.
But among all of those incredible feats LeBron has accomplished, he couldn't avoid a few bad moments too. Numerous NBA Finals losses, controversial off-court statements and switching teams have made LeBron easily one of the most hated players in the league in addition to being the face of the NBA. But to many, the worst moment of LeBron&rsquo;s career happened in 2011.
After becoming the villain and joining forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, LeBron was public enemy number one, hated for leaving his original franchise to form a super-team in pursuit of a ring. Anything but a championship would have been a fatal disappointment &mdash; and that&rsquo;s precisely what happened.
Going into the Finals against Dirk Nowitzki&rsquo;s Dallas Mavericks, LeBron&rsquo;s Heat were the heavy favorites, although few rooted for them. The first season in Miami was at the finish line, and LeBron had the chance to shut up all the critics and win his first ring. As if the Heat weren&rsquo;t hated enough, mocking Dirk with the fake coughing alongside Wade made LeBron, and the Heat, even more scrutinized. It ended up <a href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/why-dirk-nowitzki-hated-lebron-wade-and-bosh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">motivating Dirk to simply destroy them</a>.
The Mavericks ended up winning the series in six games and shocked the Heat. It was an utter disappointment and the kind of meltdown we had never ever seen from a superstar at that level. For some, that moment alone disqualified him from the GOAT conversation.
LeBron's teammate during that time, Eddie House, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxeZYqHNNhI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">went on Undisputed a few years ago</a> and echoed this sentiment. He provided perspective on what happend and talked about how James simply didn&rsquo;t show up. House said that it was something Michael Jordan never did in a playoff and Finals setting.
&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t get over the fact he didn&rsquo;t show up in Dallas," House <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxeZYqHNNhI" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>. "Not only because I was on the team, but the fact he was the best player and everybody was dependent on him to show up and do what he does, and he was M.I.A. He had a bad series. Jordan never had that. People killed James Harden for having a bad series [in 2017], but [are] you going to say somebody who quit in the Finals &mdash; the end of everything, when all the marbles are on the table &mdash; that he&rsquo;s the greatest of all time? I can&rsquo;t buy it.&rdquo;
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Considering House was LeBron&rsquo;s teammate in those Finals, and a respected veteran presence, that statement holds a lot of weight.
It was LeBron like we have never seen him before, averaging only 17.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game. Not a lousy stat line, but for a superstar considered to be one of the best in history, it was not nearly enough &mdash; especially if you add in an 8-point performance in a crucial Game 4.&nbsp;
LeBron has had a number of those lackluster outings and mental blocks during his career, though he has certainly persevered and shown up in a big way on other occassions. Whether he's surpassed MJ or not is up for debate, but one thing is for sure: These moments are the first pieces of evidence MJ fans will rely upon when debating over the GOAT conversation. And with sound reasoning. If you want to be the best, you must consistently perform when the stakes are the highest.&nbsp;
Simple as that.
Check out more articles from BasketballNetwork.net <a href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Eddie House had some candid thoughts on LeBron James' performance in the 2011 NBA Finals.

Eddie House: LeBron 'didn't show up in Dallas' in 2011, can't be GOAT

Aaron Nesmith&rsquo;s rookie season didn&rsquo;t end the way he wanted.&nbsp;
Downed at the hands of the star-studded Brooklyn Nets in five games, the Boston Celtics were a first-round exit, leading to <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-boston-celtics-unprecedented-front-office-overhaul-gives-brad-stevens-the-keys" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a number of organizational changes</a> this offseason. But nine days after the team was eliminated from contention, the 21-year-old made sure that his summer got off to an uplifting start &ndash; buying a new car for his mother, Erine.&nbsp;
He got the idea during the Celtics' game against the Chicago Bulls at the United Center on Jan. 25, while taking a quick walk on the sidelines.
&ldquo;It was when we had no fans, and there was a Kia on the floor,&rdquo; Nesmith told BasketballNews.com in a phone interview. &ldquo;I remember I checked out of the game, and I was walking to the designated area they had for us where we could take our masks off. And they had the white version of the Kia Sorrento there. I think that is a really nice car. It was the model that my mom likes.&rdquo;
Nesmith&rsquo;s mother had been driving the same vehicle for the past 15 years, so Aaron decided to buy her that same Kia Sorrento he laid eyes on, but in Crystal Beige. Setting up the surprise wasn&rsquo;t too difficult, especially since he was able to get his father, Bernie, in on the fun.
By the time Kia brought the car to the family&rsquo;s hometown of Charleston, SC, Aaron had it all planned out. After grabbing a bite to eat, he dropped her off at home, while he and his dad secretly went to the dealership to get a decorative bow. Bernie returned to the house early and told Erine that Aaron was going to meet them to go to dinner, and when Aaron pulled up, she went outside and saw that there was a brand new car in the driveway.
&ldquo;It was a dream come true,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;Growing up and wanting to play basketball, every kid also wants to do something special for their parents. Everything that my mom's done for me, she doesn't really get any gifts... It's really awesome. To see her smile puts a smile on my face.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
This is awesome. Celtics rookie Aaron Nesmith surprised his mom with a new car 🙏 <a href="https://twitter.com/aaronnesmith24?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@aaronnesmith24</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCSCeltics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBCSCeltics</a><a href="https://t.co/5ZM7giLRyC">pic.twitter.com/5ZM7giLRyC</a>
&mdash; Dime (@DimeUPROXX) <a href="https://twitter.com/DimeUPROXX/status/1403423583636910083?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 11, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Nesmith felt indebted to her. An early-riser, Aaron woke up at 6 a.m. to work out when he was in high school, and this continued when he was going through the pre-draft process less than a year ago. Erine would always roll out of bed 45 minutes earlier, just so that he could eat a homemade breakfast instead of a bowl of cereal.
&ldquo;She's always on me about taking my vitamins and making sure I eat healthy,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;She's always on me to try to help me be the best person that I can be, and same goes for my brother (Eddie) with academics and what he wants to achieve, so I just wanted to be able to give back to the effort that she puts in for her boys.&rdquo;
The Nesmiths are a family that values higher education. Eddie just finished studying Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University, while Aaron majored in Human and Organizational Development at Vanderbilt, a program focusing on business and marketing. Growing up, however, Aaron had a passion for math.
&ldquo;It was always a direct answer &ndash; you either get it right or you get it wrong &ndash; so I always kinda liked math for that,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;There was no room for interpretation (laughs).&rdquo;
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The 2020-21 NBA season, on the other hand, was very open to interpretation &ndash; especially for a rookie class that was thrown into the fire instead of going through the usual months of preparation with a summer league and proper preseason. Nesmith joined a Celtics team that would go on to battle setback after setback.
&ldquo;When the season started, Coach Brad Stevens told us to be ready to hit curveballs. Because the way the season was set up, anything could happen,&rdquo; Nesmith said. "For my rookie class, we had to hit a couple curveballs before even making it to the NBA. The draft got pushed back twice, two separate days, we didn't have a normal pre-draft process... From the get-go with this NBA journey, it was pretty much hitting curveballs.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I was pretty much ready for anything that could be thrown at me. My team individually, we got hit pretty hard by COVID and had a almost a week stretch where we had only seven players available. So really, just waking up and expecting anything, [it was about] being ready for that... Whenever I work out early in the morning, it's so that when my name is called, I'm ready and I'm not caught off guard. [I was] just pretty much waiting for my name to be called.&rdquo;
Going into Year 2, Nesmith has had more curveballs hurled at him &ndash; initially in the form of former Celtics president Danny Ainge&rsquo;s dismissal and the subsequent promotion of his first-year head coach, Stevens, assuming Ainge&rsquo;s position.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I mean, I definitely didn't see it coming,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;But I think it was great for Brad Stevens and his journey going forward. He's a great basketball mind. I think the Boston Celtics are in great hands with him moving up into the position that he took.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I owe [Danny] a lot. He believed in me, and he picked me in last year's draft, so I'll be forever grateful for that. Even after the last game, he came to me and congratulated me on the season and the turnaround that I had from the beginning to the end. So I thank him for believing in me, even in the beginning where I had a rough start and he continued to believe in me, continued to give me advice even 'til when it started to turn around for me.&rdquo;
Stevens&rsquo; promotion meant a vacancy at head coach, and in turn led to the hiring of Brooklyn Nets associate head coach and longtime assistant Ime Udoka. Though the conversations have been brief, Nesmith has gotten to know him, and learned that Udoka lived in Charleston at one point of his life.
&ldquo;[He&rsquo;s a] players coach. He seems like he's a big development guy, really cares for his guys,&rdquo; Nesmith said of Udoka. &ldquo;He wants to win. He's out there coaching with Team USA because he loves developing guys and he loves being around high-level basketball players. So, I'm excited to get to work with him just 'cause you can see how much he loves the game.&rdquo;
In addition, since Kemba Walker was dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Nesmith will have some new teammates in Boston. Budding big man Moses Brown is coming to town along with veteran forward Al Horford, a Celtics fan favorite who will be back for his second stint with the franchise.
&ldquo;(Laughs) Mhm, that's what I've heard,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;I'm excited to meet him... I watched him growing up some, but the thing that I think will help me the most is just being able to watch how he conducts himself and the way that he approaches the game mentally more than anything. He's been in the NBA for so long. He seems like he's a really good leader, so I'm really excited to be able to work with him.&rdquo;
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This was another good game from Aaron Nesmith. He's figuring things out. He hit three triples, but this was my favorite play. Nesmith misses from deep in the corner. Then watch him bust back to make sure Zach LaVine doesn't get an easy layup. This is part of how he'll earn time. <a href="https://t.co/d7WSc3L7hH">pic.twitter.com/d7WSc3L7hH</a>
&mdash; Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/1354084314963714050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 26, 2021</a></blockquote>

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Making up for lost time, Nesmith is excited to be playing for the Celtics in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas in a few weeks. He sees it as an opportunity to keep his individual momentum from last year going, and a chance to expand on some of the work he&rsquo;s put in over this current offseason.
&ldquo;To be able to play five-on-five again, in a game setting, bringing out the competitive juices &ndash; I just love playing and winning,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;Even though it's not a ring ring, we still get a tournament and we still have to declare the winner at the end, so now that's the current objective: to win that.&rdquo;
When asked to evaluate his rookie year, Nesmith considered himself &ldquo;definitely happy.&rdquo; He is grateful that he had the opportunity to compete against Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and the high-level players the Celtics had, and credits all the veterans who were on the team for their advice and passing knowledge onto him.
&ldquo;I'm ready to do it again,&rdquo; an eager Nesmith said of his upcoming second season. &ldquo;The thing that sticks with me the most [from my rookie year] is just how much you have to give 110% every day, mentally and physically &ndash; 'cause everybody's really good at this game. Everybody works to perfect their craft, so how hard can you outwork the person next to you or in the room that you can't see?&nbsp;
&ldquo;So every day, you've got to go in and give it your all. Even on an off-night &ndash; we play so many games &ndash; you still have to get up just like everybody else does, tie your shoes just like everybody else does and go out there and play as hard as you can. Or else, you're not gonna win.&rdquo;
Nesmith quickly learned to expect the unexpected at the pro level, with &ldquo;the roller coaster of playing and not playing&rdquo; acting as his most difficult adjustment. On the court, his role with the Celtics was much different than it was with the Commodores, too.
A standout at Vanderbilt, Nesmith led the team in scoring (23.0 points per game) his sophomore year prior to a season-ending foot injury. He touched the ball a ton, and put it in the bucket with ease, notably with his scorching 52.2% clip from deep on over eight attempts per game. The &lsquo;Dores depended on him to be their primary team leader in many different facets.
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When he got to the pros, that was no longer the case. Coming off the bench in a much-reduced role than what he was used to in Nashville, Nesmith had to find other ways to make an impact for his new squad &ndash; going hard on the defensive end, diving for loose balls, making hustle plays &ndash; when the starters needed an extra push. &nbsp;And in those times where he was on the floor with Tatum and Brown, he picked up on their tendencies.
&ldquo;It definitely helps that they're on my side. I would rather be playing with them than against them,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;They were our best scorers last year, and you&rsquo;ve got to be able to play off of them and off the ball [and] learn where their spots are. If Jayson and Jaylen shoot a pretty good percentage in *this* area, if they have the ball, you probably don't want to shoot it [there]. For me, that's how I was able to get a lot of my offensive rebounds, based on where they were on the floor and if they had the ball, and whatever dribble combinations they were putting together.
&ldquo;Just doing whatever the team needs to win. Basketball's a team sport, so you have to put the team first. Playing in the NBA and playing with such a talented team, everything that I did at Vandy is not what I need to do here on the Boston Celtics. I have to be able to adapt and change my game in order to help my team win games.&rdquo;
Luckily for him and the Celtics, Nesmith has the instincts and a natural motor to help him do those things. At an early age, his father instilled an outwork-everybody attitude that Aaron still carries with him on the floor and in life.&nbsp;
Nesmith put those qualities to use in arguably his signature performance as a rook. In the midst of a four-loss-in-six-game stretch, Boston came out flat in front of its home fans on April 30 against the San Antonio Spurs. The C&rsquo;s trailed 77-48 at halftime, and even plummeted into a 32-point hole... but the guys in green did not fold. In fact, Nesmith was a catalyst to one of the most unlikely comebacks of the year (and the third-largest in league history).
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He scored all 16 of his points in the second half and overtime, knocking down clutch threes, ball-hawking for easy opportunities inside and helping Tatum&rsquo;s 60-point night come in a victory. Nesmith admits that the moment was a proud one for him. He legitimately affected the outcome of the game and played 30 minutes that night.
And the day before, in a win at Charlotte, Nesmith became the <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-news-aaron-nesmith-is-first-boston-celtics-rookie-with-15-points-3-steals-and-blocks-since-paul-pierce" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first Celtics rookie since Paul Pierce</a> to record 15 points, 3 steals and 3 blocks in a single game.&nbsp;
&ldquo;It was just part of the journey. That's not the last thing I want my name next to, either,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;So I'll chalk that up, put that up next to some of my other awards I've gotten and just keep moving forward, and try to get some more... an NBA championship, first and foremost. And then hopefully a couple years down the line also be able to make the All-Star game, and everything that comes with that as well.&rdquo;
Reflecting on his own pre-draft process happening so recently, Nesmith said it&rsquo;s crazy to think about the next class entering the league in just six days.
&ldquo;It really did fly by; I think about it all the time,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;I got to Boston on November 19, I left in early June after we lost to the Nets, and that's at least seven months. Those seven months flew by like they were two.&rdquo;
Falling to the Nets in the opening round of the postseason left a bad taste in Boston&rsquo;s mouth, but Nesmith believes that experience will prove to be a positive one heading into the 2021-22 campaign.
&ldquo;We learned a little bit more about resilience and having to really fight and win it on the defensive end, especially against a team like the Brooklyn Nets, who have so much offensive firepower,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;It's pretty tough to keep up with a team on that offensive level. But if we can buckle down on the defensive side and we can limit those options &ndash; we're also a very potent offensive team &ndash; that'll take care of itself. I think we learned that our identity going forward needs to be a defensive-minded team. Because even in years past, if you look at the Boston Celtics before I joined the team, they were pretty much a top-five, top-seven defense in the NBA, and it served them well in the postseason. So I think we got away from that a little bit last year, and going back to that next year will serve us greatly.&rdquo;
For Nesmith and the Celtics, the slate is now clean.
&ldquo;We got a new coach, new systems to learn, new guys to play with. And with the old guys, it's just fun being around them, fun competing with them every day,&rdquo; Nesmith said. &ldquo;I'm excited to take what we learned from last year playing in the first round of the playoffs, taking that into next season and putting it to use throughout the regular season, and then making a deep postseason run as far as we can. For me, I'm excited to expand my role, get a more consistent role with my team,and be able to help my team win games any way I can.&rdquo;

Celtics wing Aaron Nesmith spoke to Spencer Davies about his rookie season, Boston's changes, gifting his mother a car and more.

Aaron Nesmith is ready for whatever else the Celtics throw at him

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry&rsquo;s tireless work off the basketball court campaigning for social justice, supporting women&rsquo;s causes and even interviewing Dr. Anthony Fauci about the coronavirus pandemic is drawing acclaim from civil rights leaders.
The NAACP has given him its Jackie Robinson Sports Award. And, for the first time, the nation&rsquo;s oldest civil rights organization is recognizing more than one person by honoring the WNBA Players Association.
&ldquo;This award is truly a humbling and honoring experience. It kind of came by surprise in terms of when you do things in the community and speak on things you believe, it&rsquo;s about the collective effort, not just myself but everybody who is around me in terms of accountability to change,&rdquo; Curry said in remarks provided to The Associated Press by a team spokesman. Curry was unavailable for a formal interview while resting a tailbone injury suffered Wednesday night in Houston.
&ldquo;You don&rsquo;t really do it for the acknowledgment, it&rsquo;s more so about the work that you&rsquo;re doing, that this is a great opportunity to continue to speak on things that are important and honor the legacy of Jackie Robinson and what he stood for and the change he was able to create and the barriers he was able to break and to continue these conversations,&rdquo; Curry added. &ldquo;So I&rsquo;m appreciative of the acknowledgment, the honor and if it gives more inspiration and energy to keep changing things in terms of what needs to happen for the Black community across the country then I&rsquo;m all about it.&rdquo;
The 33-year-old Curry, Golden State&rsquo;s two-time NBA MVP, held a YouTube question-and-answer forum with Fauci last March near the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
&ldquo;I would borrow a Maya Angelou quote to describe Steph and his leadership: &lsquo;I&rsquo;ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel,&rsquo;&rdquo; Warriors general manager Bob Myers said in an email.
&ldquo;Steph has certainly made people in the Bay Area and all over the world feel joy. His commitment to social activism and support of women are another part of the fabric that makes up the person that he is. I&rsquo;m honored to know him for what he does both on and off the court,&rdquo; Myers added. &ldquo;And a much deserved congratulations to the women of the WNBA who continue to fearlessly pursue what is right.&rdquo;
The Jackie Robinson award &mdash; named for the late Dodgers great who broke baseball&rsquo;s racial barrier &mdash; recognizes athletes for their success as well as their commitment to social justice, civil rights and their communities.
&ldquo;He has a strong platform and he utilizes it to the best of his ability,&rdquo; said Curry&rsquo;s teammate, Kelly Oubre Jr. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s a great individual.&rdquo;
The WNBA players have been applauded for their activism in a unified movement that has featured kneeling for the national anthem, messages supporting Black Lives Matter and protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake in August by following the Bucks&rsquo; lead in not playing.
&ldquo;I am so proud of the WNBA players for this well-deserved recognition of their continued activism and advocacy for social justice and equality,&rdquo; WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement provided to the AP. &ldquo;Their platforms are bigger than basketball, and they are amazing role models for the next generation of athletes and leaders. The WNBA Social Justice Council continues their important work and you can definitely &lsquo;Count&rsquo; on more to come from the players.&rdquo;
WNBA players also notably called out former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, a Republican and former co-owner of the Atlanta Dream, for her criticism of the league&rsquo;s social justice efforts.
Curry, too, applauded the women for their efforts.
&ldquo;The acknowledgement of the WNBA and what they&rsquo;ve stood for and how they&rsquo;ve used their platform to be bold and courageous and speak for change at every opportunity, that acknowledgement is very much deserved,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;They are game-changers and leaders in terms of using their collective voice and impact on and off the court, so a shoutout to them and all that they&rsquo;ve done and are continuing to do in terms of leadership and using their voice.&rdquo;
Some WNBA players sported T-shirts reading &ldquo;Vote Warnock&rdquo; in support of Atlanta pastor Raphael Warnock, a Democrat who defeated Loeffler in a runoff race in January. Warnock became Georgia&rsquo;s first African American senator.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr, outspoken on many issues himself, admires the WNBA players for their activism.
&ldquo;I love what the WNBA players have done. They&rsquo;ve really taken the lead with creativity and unity in a lot of important causes, political causes but social injustice issues,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;They&rsquo;ve made their voices heard. They&rsquo;ve done it very creatively and powerfully.&rdquo;
The awards are to be presented during next week&rsquo;s NAACP Image Awards Virtual Experience.
LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Jim Brown, The Harlem Globetrotters, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Sugar Ray Leonard, Eddie Robinson are among prior recipients.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Warriors' Stephen Curry has received the Jackie Robinson award from the NAACP.

Warriors' Stephen Curry receives Jackie Robinson award from NAACP

Sure, Montrezl Harrell is a mammoth of a man and tenacious defender, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was already oozing with confidence by the time he got the switch.&nbsp;
The young Canadian had already made a fool of Dennis Schroder on a few possessions, so when Kentavious Caldwell-Pope came with a hard show to trap the Oklahoma City Thunder&rsquo;s young star, Shai crossed over from left to right, faking the two defenders out of their shoes. He slithered to the rack and threw down a two-handed dunk.
Somewhere, Chris Paul was smiling.
Gilgeous-Alexander, of course, spent last season as Paul&rsquo;s understudy. And although Paul would&rsquo;ve probably finished the play off by finding a backdoor cutter, the entire sequence had Paul&rsquo;s fingerprints on it.
So know this: the journey to becoming a superstar in the NBA isn&rsquo;t as simple as giving a kid the ball and the keys to a franchise. More often than not, young players with promise have to learn as they go. Just like Gilgeous-Alexander did. Just like RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley will.
Above all else, that&rsquo;s why the New York Knicks&rsquo; decision to run it back with Derrick Rose -- especially considering what they had to give up in exchange for him -- was a no-brainer.
It&rsquo;s disconcerting the extent to which NBA fans allow themselves to be peddled falsities. Once upon a time, we were told that tanking was the best way to building a contender. Not too long ago, we were led to believe that hoarding cap space was the way to sign impact free agents and more recently, for some reason, many have been led to believe that players with promise need to be force-fed the ball for 40 minutes per night.
You know what young players really need more than anything else? Guidance and experienced wisdom.
Neophytes need to learn how to win games and see, first-hand, what kind of commitment it takes to be successful in the NBA. They don&rsquo;t need to be on the receiving end of 30-point blowout losses or to be torn apart by the likes of Jrue Holiday or Patrick Beverley. They need veteran players whose attitudes and habits help them get to the next level. They need a coaching staff that connects with them and helps them develop their talents, and they need to be properly primed before they&rsquo;re entrusted with the marbles.
They need to marinate, and they need players who've been there and done that before them help with their seasoning. For the gross majority of players, this is fact even if&nbsp;some players &nbsp;-- LeBron James, Damian Lillard, Donovan Mitchell and Luka Doncic to name a few -- are ready from Day 1.
Far more players have been brought along slowly and surely. In a basketball culture that is often fooled into thinking there&rsquo;s only one way to do things, the want to see immediate dividends on the investment in a player with potential is understandable... It&rsquo;s just not usually the reality.
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About 25 years ago, a young backup guard named Sam Cassell was instrumental in helping deliver two NBA championships to the Houston Rockets. Nonetheless, he couldn&rsquo;t find a starting role playing behind a bevy of accomplished veterans that included Kenny Smith, Vernon Maxwell and Clyde Drexler.
Humbled, Cassell studied under the veterans, learned some lessons and applied the teachings in his subsequent stops. He ended up enjoying a fruitful career, to say the least.
The late, great Kobe Bryant became a starter in his third season, but only after it became apparent that he was the franchise&rsquo;s future and that Eddie Jones, Nick Van Exel and Derek Fisher didn&rsquo;t quite have the same gifts.
In more recent times, Draymond Green, CJ McCollum, Jaylen Brown and Fred VanVleet are examples of players who spent their first couple years fighting for their keep. Before Giannis Antetokounmpo was a two-time MVP, he was playing behind the likes of Ersan Ilyasova, John Henson, Larry Sanders and Zaza Pachulia. Same with Stephen Curry, who has preached patience with rookie James Wiseman and <a href="https://twitter.com/ThompsonScribe/status/1351418668131864577?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pointed out</a>&nbsp;that Curry himself "used to get benched for Acie Law."
In other words, most young NBA players are like seeds. They need to be planted, given proper conditions and some time. Not everyone comes into the league 100 percent ready, and that&rsquo;s fine. Nobody likes force-ripened fruit, anyway.
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That&rsquo;s exactly where players like Derrick Rose come in.
Given his relationship with Tom Thibodeau, the early returns suggest that he&rsquo;ll fit right in by providing the Knicks a much-needed attack guard who can help make the game easier for the team's youngsters, who&nbsp;Rose will ultimately help bloom.
At this point in his career, on an individual level, the former MVP is a player who has gone from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the barrel and back. Through it all, he&rsquo;s kept a positive attitude and persevered. A step slower and less athletic than he was 10 years ago, he's come to rely more on his ability to see through defenses and penetrate them than his blinding athleticism. At 32 years old, he plays the game more like an aging halfback who has to plan his cuts rather than a greyhound chasing a rabbit. As he&rsquo;s aged and enjoyed his renaissance, Rose has naturally become more methodical about his game. Those are qualities that any young guard would be wise to develop.
Serving as understudy worked out quite well for Gilgeous-Alexander. There's no reason to believe the same fate doesn't await Quickley and the Knicks' other promising youngsters.
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Although far from a front-office lifer, Leon Rose has spent a lot of time around the Knicks organization. In the recent past, New York has always sought the shortcut. In the end, they discovered that the only thing shortcuts are good for is making you bleed.
The road to respectability in the NBA -- a long, windy, treacherous one -- can only be successfully traversed with steps on the court.
Today more than ever, players watch one another, talk, share war stories, form relationships and create alliances, but nobody wants to join a sinking ship. No franchise-altering player will proactively take his talents to a losing franchise more renowned for its off-court shenanigans than on-court promise. So the first step toward helping the Knicks regain some respect around the NBA is to string together some wins, show some sort of developmental culture and overachieve relative to the individual parts. It&rsquo;s precisely <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-kevin-durant-kyrie-irving-brooklyn-nets-los-angeles-clippers-kawhi-leonard-paul-george-learn-mistakes-culture-kenny-atkinson-doc-rivers" target="_blank" rel="noopener">what the Brooklyn Nets did</a> and, if you look closely, it seems to be precisely what the Knicks are attempting to do. Rose is a means to that end.
Despite the Knicks' inclusion of Charlotte's second-round draft pick, trading Smith for Rose is a no-brainer. Rose provides the club with attributes they need that Smith didn&rsquo;t possess, and the 11-year veteran gets them closer to the playoffs than Smith would have.
For a franchise attempting to find its way, the Rose acquisition is a low-risk move with a potentially high reward, especially if Rose is able to impart any of his wisdom or teachings to Thibodeau&rsquo;s young and impressionable group of players.
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<div>So the next time Jaylen Brown draws praise or Gilgeous-Alexander impresses you, remember when they were seeds. Realize that now, in New York, they&rsquo;ve just begun planting.</div>
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With his experiences and wisdom, at this point in his career, Derrick Rose is properly cast on a young, upstart Knicks team.

Second time's the charm: Derrick Rose trade was right decision for Knicks

I still remember the summer of 2007.&nbsp;
A year after winning the championship in Miami, we got swept by the Chicago Bulls and I found myself looking for a new home. I had a few options, but I thought joining the New Jersey Nets was my best one. I liked their style of play and knew I&rsquo;d mesh with Jason Kidd.
Then, out of nowhere, on a Saturday afternoon, I got a call from Eddie House. I didn&rsquo;t really know Eddie that well, but we did share an agent. He told me that if I came to Boston with him, we&rsquo;d win the championship.
Two days later, after I spoke with Doc Rivers and Danny Ainge, that was that. I decided to head to Boston to try and win with Paul, Ray and KG &mdash; the modern era&rsquo;s original Big Three.
It ended up being one of the best decisions I ever made.
I&rsquo;d be lying if I said I didn&rsquo;t have some doubt that we would be able to win it all, but by the time we swept the Texas triangle in March, I knew we had a chance to win the championship. For the four months until that point, those guys showed everyone on that team what it meant to sacrifice in the name of winning.
At the end of the day, personal stats meant nothing to Paul, Ray and Ticket. They&rsquo;d already made their money and gotten their awards. The only thing they were missing was a championship.&nbsp;
In Boston, our Big Three worked because that ring was the only thing everyone cared about.
If I had to pick one of Brooklyn&rsquo;s Big Three who might be the key to whether we end up saying the same thing about the Nets, I'd go with Kyrie Irving.
Seemingly overnight, Brooklyn got a Big Three of its own that&rsquo;s going to give the entire league a lot of problems. In terms of offensive talent, with Kevin Durant and James Harden, Kyrie suddenly has two other guys on the offensive end who might be better scoring options than him. That&rsquo;s not a position he&rsquo;s been in before.&nbsp;
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And at the end of the day, there&rsquo;s only one ball, and if there&rsquo;s one thing I learned playing for Boston or coaching LeBron, Kyrie and K-Love in Cleveland, it&rsquo;s that one of the three guys is going to end up with less offensive freedom. That&rsquo;s not something that every player takes kindly to. So whether it all works in Brooklyn will probably come down to what their Big Three really wants to get out of this.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Does everyone simply want to win? Or do some guys want to win, but on their own terms?
At this point, that&rsquo;s what remains to be seen.
In Cleveland, Kyrie won a championship and was our second-best player, but he wasn&rsquo;t totally happy with the situation &mdash; maybe he felt like he still had something to prove? For whatever reason, he asked out. It seems like he didn&rsquo;t just want to win, he wanted to win on his own terms. Things didn&rsquo;t work out for him in Boston, so he went to Brooklyn to form a dynamic duo with KD.&nbsp;
Now, he&rsquo;s in another Big Three, and we don&rsquo;t know if that&rsquo;s a situation he&rsquo;ll thrive in. Especially since he&rsquo;s probably the one who will be asked to sacrifice the most.&nbsp;
For a Big Three to succeed, at least one of them has to primarily create their shots on the offensive end by playing off the ball &mdash; screens, pin downs and pick-and-rolls most often. The person Steve Nash will ask to play that role more often than not will probably be Kyrie, because the ball should (obviously) mostly be in the hands of the team&rsquo;s best player and the team&rsquo;s best distributor. For my money, I&rsquo;d say that&rsquo;s KD and James. If I&rsquo;m Nash, I&rsquo;d probably ask Kyrie to get used to playing off the ball more than he&rsquo;s used to.&nbsp;
Going from being the second option to potentially the third option in a Big Three&nbsp;will be a big adjustment, but if winning is the priority, it&rsquo;s a sacrifice he&rsquo;ll have to make.
In all fairness, both KD and Harden will have to make some adjustments, as well. But KD has already proven that he can succeed with two other great scorers, and Harden will probably still end up playing with the ball in his hands a lot. So far, he&rsquo;s shown a willingness to share the rock, perhaps because he&rsquo;s realized that depending on his one-on-one arsenal of moves isn&rsquo;t a recipe for championship success.&nbsp;
By the time 2007 came around, Paul came to realize that. That&rsquo;s why it was so easy for him to sacrifice shots and touches for Ray and Ticket. It might take a while, but eventually, almost all great one-on-one players who have had everything on their shoulders realize they need others to succeed. In forcing a trade to Brooklyn, James basically admitted that.
When all three players in a Big Three accept the fact that they need each other, it&rsquo;s a thing of beauty. The real question is whether, at this point in their careers, Brooklyn&rsquo;s Big Three&nbsp;have all gotten there. Especially Kyrie, because his adjustment may be the most dramatic.
We&rsquo;re only a few games in. There&rsquo;s bumps in the road during every season, so when the Nets lose a few games and face some adversity, their ability to stick to the program and trust their coaches &mdash; and each other &mdash; will be tested.
At that point, we&rsquo;ll get to see whether Kyrie, James and Kevin are able to channel the same energy that we had in Boston.
Back in 2007, I was a part of a team that made it all work.
In 2021, we&rsquo;ll see if these Nets can become the latest superstar trio to lift the Larry O'Brien trophy.

James Posey believes the Nets' Big Three, and particularly Kyrie Irving, need to channel the energy of the 2008 Celtics to win a title.

The Nets' Big 3 should follow 2008 Celtics' blueprint for success

Eddie House talks about sharing a record with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the Celtics' 2008 title, what makes the Heat so successful and more.