7 Things I Like About the Boston Celtics that Have Nothing to Do With Basketball
The NBA finals start Thursday, June 6 between the Boston Celtics (Kind & Funny’s team) and the Dallas Mavericks.
I think it will be good basketball, but you won’t find any complicated sports talk on this blog, just me saying nice things about these people as human beings.
Kel and I have always watched basketball together, but it was the “Bubble” season of 2020 when the NBA resumed during COVID in complexes at Disney World in order to give us a bit of joy in our lives that Kelly really joined me as a die-hard fan.
For us, part of being a fan goes beyond basketball and includes getting to know what the players are like off the court, from their personalities to their families to their fashion to their passion projects.
Here are 7 things I like about this Boston Celtics team—there’s room if you want to join us on the bandwagon:
1. Jaylen Brown’s efforts to end systemic racism
Jaylen Brown is one of the most impressive people in sports, and I admire him so much.
Through his 7uice Foundation he is constantly doing meaningful work to bridge opportunity gaps in our country, and specifically in Boston, a place that has unfortunately done much to earn its racist reputation.
When Jaylen signed the biggest contract in NBA history, he used his press conference to do things his way, sitting alongside the venerable John Carlos and campers from the 7uice Bridge program while discussing Jaylen’s plans for building generational wealth (I don’t expect you to watch the whole press conference right now but the intro is powerful, and then you can fast-forward to 9:27 for some of his comments):
Also, Jaylen and Kelly both played college basketball for the Cal-Berkeley Bears, which is an awesome thing that not many people have in common.
2. Jayson Tatum’s dedication to single-parent households
Since he came into the league, Jayson Tatum has been giving credit to his mom. You can see it in this beautiful commercial:
Even cooler than the commercial is hearing him talk about the specifics of the initiative he’s launched with SoFi through his foundation:
Jaylen and Jayson are two of the best players in the NBA, which is nice, but it feels good to be cheering for such good people as well.
3. Derrick White’s versatility
Time for some comic relief.
Derrick is Kelly’s favorite player, a fellow Coloradan who does it all on the court and is a great teammate. I love how he is taking that reputation to commercials, like this one at the Samuel Adams brewery, a place I’ve spent a bit of time:
And also to the grocery store:
4. Jrue Holiday and his wife Lauren
Jrue was traded to the Celtics from Milwaukee earlier this season, and his wife bravely posted some incredible insight into what that process can be like for a family:
I think this is a beautiful sentiment that she shares:
“Imagine a world where we didn't hide behind the business of things, where we didn't treat one another like commodities, instead we saw each other as valuable pieces of a human community meant to serve one another in a mosaic of ways.”
Since then, articles about how amazing Jrue, Lauren, and family have come out pretty regularly, and they are always full of quotes that make me like Jrue even more, like this one:
“You want to know what his dream job is? He wants to bag groceries at Vons. I’m not kidding you,” Lauren said. “From the time I met him, he told me that he used to beg his mom to get him a job at Vons to bag groceries. Let me tell you, when we go to the grocery store, Jrue is packing our bags.”
5. Oshae Brissett’s Creativity
Oshae’s vlog Brissy TV has already gotten its own shoutout on the Kind & Funny blog, so I’ll save some space by simply saying that the weekly video drops are full of humanity, aesthetic, and behind-the-scenes treasures, and they are appointment viewing for Kelly and me.
6. Kristaps Porzingis and Jaylen Brown, Fast Friends
The Celtics acquired Kristaps, a 7’2” center from Latvia, before this season, and it didn’t take very much time for him to become great friends with his teammate and building-mate Jaylen Brown. The duo have accounted for many on-the-court highlights in addition to hilarious Step Brothers memes and fun interviews. I love how these two get along, as evidenced by them joking about their work carpool:
7. Al Horford, The Best
Our resident veteran is Al, a 38-year-old who has the most current playoff games played without a championship, so we’re all rooting a little extra hard for him to get one.
Why do we root so much for Al? Check out this quote from head coach Joe Mazzulla about Al:
"You can't really put it into words. So, I'll try my best, but he's just a guy who is the best.”
Joe, I get it. I think this team is the best, and I hope that they accomplish their goals and have a whole lot of fun out there.
LET’S GO CELTICS! jed@kindandfunny.com. This is my weird Celtics band photo art:
