Brad Stevens says rumors Celtics players resent Tristan Thompson are ‘not real’
Stevens and multiple Celtics players pushed back on a recent report.
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As the NBA trade deadline approaches, rumors about the Celtics have been amplified enormously.
One rumor that gained some steam on Tuesday was a report from Chris Vernon and Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer’s The Mismatch podcast. Vernon said the Celtics have grown to resent Thompson, who is out due to health and safety protocols once again, and O’Connor said he has “also heard that Thompson is not loved in that locker room for numerous different reasons.”
On Tuesday, however, both Jaylen Brown and Kemba Walker took to Twitter to push back. Brown used the blue “cap” emoji — slang for “lies” — and Walker said the Celtics “love TT.”
On Wednesday, before the Celtics took on the Milwaukee Bucks, Brad Stevens responded as well.
“I talked a little bit about it on my radio show today, and I had to address some discussion about Tristan: It’s not real,” Stevens said. “I think guys that have been in the league hear rumors all the time, and you react to whatever is put out on social media and that gets gassed up and becomes something that guys can react to negatively. The older guys that have been in the league kind of realize they’ve been through a lot of these and most of the time it’s nothing.”
Stevens acknowledged the trade rumors, which are made a little more strange by the fact that the Celtics will spend the next three days in Milwaukee. The roster that faces the Bucks on Wednesday could be different from the roster that takes the floor on Friday.
“Yes, there’s a reality that we could make changes, yes there’s a reality that anybody could,” Stevens said. “But also don’t over-react to the rumors. I get it, the way the media works, the way social media works. I understand how things get accelerated and it becomes more of an entertainment thing and not necessarily all based in reality. But react accordingly.”
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