March 14, 2023 • 53 mins
Luke Kornet joins us this week to discuss his career path and the challenges that come with just trying to make it to, and remain in, the NBA. He opens up the conversation diving right into the camaraderie in the Celtics locker room this season, specifically with the Bus 1 Boys and unique experiences they have together arriving to arenas four hours ahead of games.
The conversation then shifts to Luke’s journey into the NBA after initially receiving zero Division 1 offers in high school and eventually going undrafted. Luke recalls questioning multiple times if continuing to pursue professional basketball was the right choice for him. He discusses the trials and triumphs he endured since then, which ultimately led to him signing with the Boston Celtics G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics, and how that decision has impacted his life since.
Maine Celtics General Manager Jarell Christian then joins the podcast to provide a bit of insight into the business side of the G League, how it differs from the NBA and the challenge of running a team full of players whose individual sights are all set on making it to the next level. Jarrell talks about roster construction and how the Maine Celtics can be a useful development resource for players on the Celtics roster like Sam Hauser to develop in their role with more time and opportunity.
1:05 – Chemistry In The Celtics Locker Room
2:06 – The Bus 1 Boys Experience
9:07 – Luke Kornet’s Career Path
14:10 – Life In The G League
20:31 – Living In Uncertainty
33:10 – Making Business Decisions Based On Values
39:12 – Defining Roles
42:55 – Creating A Development System In Maine
48:38 – What Makes This System Work?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome everyone. This is View from the Rafters today. We're
bringing in a man who hails from basketball country life
is funny. Okay, oh well don't go there, not yet.
Well we talk about it now. The Bust One Boys
is the crazy story, not actortball. It's a crazy thing
to me. It's like where you came from. Yeah, we're
all older than we think. We are always Gold League
Gray Baby. All right, we're back for another episode of
(00:25):
You from the Rafters. Behind the scenes with the Boston Celtics.
Mark to me go here with Abby Chin. Today's episode
is really all about figuring out what it's like to
kind of tow that line and find your way in
the NBA, experiencing time in the G League, and really
the challenges that come along with that. Abbey. Fortunately, we
have a man who can talk to us about all
of that right now. It's Luke Cornett. We're gonna start
(00:45):
out talking to you about that in a minute, though,
but first I want to talk to you about this season.
I mean, it's been a lot of fun to watch
you guys. From what I've seen and heard, a lot
of people have said that this has been their favorite
locker room that they've ever been a part of Can
you kind of just tell us and take us inside
and what's it been like from a camaraderie perspective. Yeah,
I think it's been terrific. I mean, honestly, well, the
(01:06):
whole group, everyone in the locker room. It is a
pretty rare thing I think to like have, especially in
the NBA. And I don't know, I feel like it's
like the perfect storm of a lot of things, but
just like a lot of guys just wanting and willing
to buy in, and I think something cool. It's just
like also so many guys back from last year, I
think we're kind of just even brought closer in that.
(01:27):
But also I'm from top to bottom in the organization.
I think we're very like both accepting of people, but
then also like we have a goal that we want
to get to, and so it's like how does everyone
fit in? And everyone I think that they bring in
is very like willing and able to buy into that.
I mean, yeah, it's definitely special relationships that don't come
(01:47):
along very often. And like I think it's awesome to
hear like whenever anyone's kind of talking about it, because
I think it is like true and I really do
appreciate like everyone here, and we've gone a great group
of guys, and it's makes it even more fun to
play on the court with him. Speaking of fun, Lake
told us about the bus one Boys. Yes, it has
(02:07):
caused fanfare online. They're like, because he threw it out
there that there might be some merch. We're waiting for
the merch. You have a theme, there's there's a theme.
I crafted it in about ten minutes on the bus
on the way to a game. Would you like to share? Well, share,
We'll say it's uh, we're gonna have to pay a
little bit of royalties off to Billy Joel from Uptown Girl. Yeah,
(02:31):
who has taken Uptown Girl. It's bus boys and there's
a couple. I think it's gonna it's a little bit
less exactly our group and more about bus one boys
throughout the NBA and the weird experiences that you go
to when you arrive at the arena at three o'clock
for a seven thirty game. That's not exactly accurate, but
it was typerbole and that's a literary device. Okay, I
want to hear about the experiences, but first I want
(02:56):
to hear about that group and you talk about the
special camaraderie in this locker room. How special is that
group in particular? Yeah, it's great. It's kind of funny
because I don't know if I've ever been on a
group where like when we're coming on the bus to
go to the game, like we're talking like basically the
entire ride, or like all bus rides in general, which
(03:16):
like it's pretty quiet, everyone's got headphones on and stuff
like that. But it's yeah, so yeah, me Blake, Peyton, Sam,
it was just and Jay Jack was a big baron
no or a big part of it. But um, yeah.
The first part about it that makes it such a
strong IDENTI is there's like significant and intense shaming if
(03:39):
you're ever not on bus one. So it's definitely like
it's all happy and positive vised, but there is a deep,
deep fear underlying all of it of being ostracized from
the group. And I feel like it's that fear that
really makes the best of us all come out together.
It's a great lesson first byron coaches out there. What
is the strangest thing that's happened to you? Arriving at
an arena four hours before tip? Uh? What's a lot
(04:02):
of time together too, like just that group um and
this is he shout out Jay Jack. I think just
like the process of like when you're like warming up
and going to work out like three and a half
hours before they get like and you get like great,
nice and loose, and then you just sit for like
two and a half hours. Yeah. And then also that
like every single halftime timeout, anthem, all those things get rehearsed,
(04:28):
like every single time, and you're trying to shoot and
there's like the anthem and the lights are going out
are like encroaching on the three point line, and it
was like, this is like my fifteen minutes. If I
could just really have my fifteen minutes. But that's the
part of the bus one. Yeah, you got you gotta
release control. Yeah for sure. Do you think that fear
that you talked about is the reason why Blake actually
(04:50):
came to the bus in LA from his house and
didn't go direct assuredly? Yeah, definitely. I think because everybody
been one time. I don't know if it's him or
I think it might have been no early on where
I think because someone was out that night, he had
a later shooting time because that happens sometimes and if
you don't formally issue like hey, I'm not going to
be on bus one, is that like on a thread busy? Yeah? Yeah,
(05:12):
we gotta Oh gosh, that's a whole other Yeah. Yeah,
I think that was a part of it, because like
once someone doesn't mention it, then uh, there's a whole
coming back like a not what am I trying to
bring them back in kind of process. We don't just
accept your wholeheartedly. It is Yes, you earn love in
(05:35):
bust one for sure. All right. So moving on from
bus one to the top of it hand today, Um,
obviously we all know there's some players like Jason Tatum
who you know, they're in the league and they know
they're going to be there forever until they choose not
to all health permitted. Then there's other people who kind
of have to walk that line and really like work
their way every single day potentially through the G League,
(05:57):
potentially through two way two ways, and potentially maybe on
that like fourteenth fifteenth roster spot. You've had to experience that.
What is it like to walk that line both from
a personal perspective and then also all of your family
who's involved in that as well, yeah, yeah, that's a yeah,
it's weird because you don't really know like any other
(06:18):
experience I guess than your own. But it is difficult
because like especially like the apps and or apps and
flows of it, and like there's times where you feel
like it's just only going to be up and up
and up, and then when it does kind of go
down and like really having to I think you just
really have to like assess and understand and realize like
(06:38):
why it is that you're doing this and choosing it
and playing basketball and like whether especially like for family
and stuff like that, when there are a lot less
like secure type of positions that you're often like putting
yourself into, whether it's like trying to make the team
in training camp or going to the G League or
whatever that might be, I think you have to like
(06:58):
face that ale a lot, like in a much deeper way,
which it's it's definitely difficult, and I think, like especially
on the family side of things, it's hard. And actually
this is something that me and Justin talked about quite
a bit, but it's like you really have to like
answer those questions and face those questions because when you
might be going somewhere where it's like, all right, I
can maybe be here for like a month, but then
(07:19):
I might get waved. But then hopefully I make it,
but I'm not really sure, and so it's like do
we even move up here? Are we staying far apart?
Especially as you start having like a family and children
and stuff like that. It's definitely like, yeah, you said
to face those decisions and really like choose it. But
I think something that's great about it is that like
you do have to face those reasons and like find
(07:41):
out why you are choosing to do this, and hopefully
you don't just like keep kind of just like oh,
no matter what it takes, I'm gonna be doing this
kind of thing. It's like why is it that I'm
really trying to play basketball? And where am I trying
to play basketball? And like what can I what do
I want to provide? And what can I like bring
and like all those types of things are like questions
I think that you're short of faced with, which then
(08:02):
if I think you do eventually can like make your way.
I think you're a lot more confident in yourself as
like a person as a player, because you know it
is like why you're there and what you bring and
it's funny. It definitely like looks like it definitely is
adversity and challenge and like suffering in that, but I
think like it is a very purifying thing to undergo
and probably a weird experience for like a lot of guys.
(08:25):
And that's even like the same thing of like guys
who think they could be stars but ended up having
to be like role players and like, yeah, there's different
tiers to that, like all throughout the league, and I
think that's something that like in being in Maine last year,
I think I was so like going through that year
was like I know why I'm playing basketball and what
(08:45):
it is that like I want my life and career
to look like that. When I was able to be
here in Boston, it's like all that stuff stays the same,
and you're a lot more like rock solid, I think,
and like who you are as like a player and
teammate and all that kind of thing, because in reality,
you were built for this, right Luke. I mean going
through your experiences with basketball coming out of high school,
(09:07):
I read zero D one scholarship offers and you would
to bet on yourself playing in an AU tournament in
the summer before you got the scholarship offer from Vanderbilt
and then coming out of college going undrafted, and how
has that prepared you for this? Yeah, that's like kind
of another part of it that like it's like honestly
(09:28):
about blessing. I now look at it because its like
I never had it. I never felt like, oh, I
have like expectations on myself. Really, Like when I was
playing in high school, it was just like playing to
have fun. And my sisters older it was like an
All American and recruited since she was like in eighth
grade and all that kind of stuff, and I didn't
have any of that, but it was just like kind
of playing for fun. And then like yeah, kind of
(09:50):
that whole scholarship to Vanderbilt thing ended up happening, which
is like a school I wanted to go to, my
parents had gone to, and it's just like, yeah, praise God,
like you just like laid it out, but I like
and every step of the way it was kind of
just like, oh, you're still playing basketball and hopefully I
can keep doing It wasn't until college's like okay, maybe
I could be a professional, but who really knows an
ideal with injuries in college and like the two way
(10:12):
kind of a thing, and so I felt like the
whole time it was just like I was pretty fortunate
to feel like I was always playing basketball just to
be like playing basketball and like sort of very like
purity of the game kind of a way, because I
never really like expected or thought or knew or it
wasn't I was like so late developing that, like it
(10:33):
fortunately just kind of like happened as I was playing
basketball and not like there's ever any like pressure or
feeling that I should be this or that. And yeah,
I do think it's helped me so much and be
able to realize that and also be able to just
like empathize with guys who were in the same position
as me, who kind of like didn't have the chance.
But then also the guys who were from the time
(10:54):
they're thirteen, they're like, oh, you're the next whatever, and
like the pressure that that is for kids, and um,
I think just being able to take every teammate just
like as a complete unique situation and just like the
person that they are, uh, because like my own experiences
taught me and it's like if I was at seven
two and I was like six seven, I would not
be in the NBA, and like all of us have
been also like giving like incredible blessings to even like
(11:16):
have the opportunity to do it. And I think it's
only like realizing how much we've just been like given
that we're fortunate of as well that like then you
can be like, oh, I do like work hard, and
I like it's like true confidence, you know, versus like
I'm just thinking all the stuff should just happen because
like it's supposed to happen or something that I gotta
tell you from my perspective, I'm like my whole life.
(11:37):
I'm like, if if I wasn't five ten, five eleven
and I was seven two, I would be in the NBA.
So I'm the opposite of that aspect. Yeah, everyone would
be able to win mill and dunk crazy. If you
don't know the fact that long levers have on your athleticism,
I don't know. I'm just making up words at this point.
But an interesting thing that you do that often. An
(11:59):
interesting thing that you said during during that answer was
that you were kind of playing for fun, and then
at some point it changed where I feel like the
majority of NBA players are the opposite where they're like
their whole lives, they're like I want to be a pro.
I want to be a pro, and then like that's
what their motivation is. At what point did that change
for you? Yeah? The first time I think was after
(12:22):
my freshman year of college, because I was like still developing, growing,
and I was, like I said, started to get like
a little bit like stronger and more coordinate stuff. And
I was definitely a thought then. And then like by
the time after my sophomore year, I thought like, oh yeah,
I really think I could play. And then it was
interually that summer I ended up like breaking my foot,
which is like one of those things where I was like, oh, well,
(12:44):
this is like all ruined. But I think at the
time was probably almost like and I woul probably like
a lot of like protecting my ended up like protecting
myself from like started to sort of get ahead of
myself of like feeling like I probably wasn't really ready
for it honestly at that time. Um, and so that
it was like kind of like through that college time period,
(13:05):
but like it's amazing, just like even like once you're
in the NBA or I was a two way and
all that kind of stuff. It's like all right, well
even once like you're playing games, it's like, well or
not even in the playoffs and it's like you want
to play and like a playoff team and like aspire
for a championship. It's like what role do you play
on that team? Could you play a role on that team?
Kind of a thing. Uh, is always kind of like
(13:25):
a question that's sort of lingering, so like almost like
every step of the way, it's like you kind of
know what your cable of, but you also like want
to sort of know what is the limit of that
or like how far can you keep going? And um, yeah,
it's kind of live out your life. Another fortunate thing
that happened for you is you came into the league
(13:46):
the first year there was a two way contract, signing
with the New York Knicks. You're the knicks very first
two way contract player. Yeah right there, Yeah, but forever
in storage franchise. Um, but can you kind of take
us through the G league grind because it's different. How
is it different from the NBA when you're traveling, what
(14:07):
you're going through, what you're experiencing. Uh, Yeah, the g
leage is a lot different. I think like, well, yeah,
I think it's pretty fortunate. In our team that we
had in Westchester shout out Westchester Knicks twenty seventeen. Great group.
Like we had a lot of guys who were first
year rookies, which is like one part of it. But
then we also had Trey Burke on the team who
had sometimes in Utah and then was like out and
(14:27):
playing in the G League. So you kind of like
a part of both sides. Yeah, a lot less luxurious,
a lot more all right, holiday inn in suits here
in Canton. What's the restaurant proximity, Because it's like you're
just hoping that there's like two places that are somewhat
decent that like are less than a mile walk in
the snow, and those are like but it's kind of
(14:48):
all fun, like like I think coming out of college
it was like you're a little bit more ready for that,
but then coming back when I was in Maine, it
is like a very different place that you're kind of
at when you've been in the NBA for a little bit,
and especially family and all those kinds of things, where, yeah,
it definitely has its own challenges and like and it's
a weird thing where like I feel like everyone is
(15:10):
trying to play to like get to the next level,
which is a pretty unique part about it because like
you don't really have There's might be people in college
that are like that, but like generally it's not like
that or in the NBA and stuff. But I think
that aspect of it is probably the most challenging because
especially for myself and how it was like, oh no,
there's always like a certain way that we're trying to play,
but then you have guys who are like strictly trying
(15:30):
to play for that and trying to build a culture
of like like I don't know, I just have a
strong We've like whatever it takes to win, it's going
to be kind of like the best idea for you
to do, even if you're trying to be in the
NBA kind of thing. Yeah, exactly, And so I think
that is probably, like, at least for me, probably the
hardest part about it was like trying to handle that
(15:54):
and just like I feel like you can have peace
with yourself pretty easily if like you're actually really trying
to win and like trying to do the best you
can and like living with that result. But then it
does get to like February March, and if guys haven't
gotten called up, like there's like pressure that people are feeling,
and right, really hard to play a role that you've
been given. Yeah, yeah, even if you are starring in
that role, it may not be showcasing what you want
(16:16):
to showcase. Yeah, it's but that's like, I mean, that's
like the difficult thing about like everyone's career in general,
because like generally everyone here has been the best player
or like among that um on their teams grow like
throughout life, and so like trying to find out what
your role and career and how you fit in it
kind of makes you have to answer the question of like, oh,
(16:38):
do I really want to like win or do I
just want to win if I get to do what
I want? And everyone has to kind of fill in
around that. Yeah, And that I think is like, uh,
I probably like the most the biggest challenge of like
going through your career professional sports in general. Yeah. Yeah,
it's like all right, do yeah, what it actually is
the thing that's best for winning? And do you actually
like accept that or not, which kind of goes back
(17:01):
to your original question is what makes this team in
this group? But the Celtics. This season so special and
everyone has that one mind on the mission. Yeah, definitely,
And that's like, I mean, obviously it's been talked about
a lot, but we have so many guys who could
have different roles in other places. And it's a funny
thing when it's like you've got some guys who might
be playing like twenty minutes or ten minutes or zero minutes,
(17:23):
who like the next game, could be playing like thirty
something and be like the best player on the court.
And it's like it's a complete like yeah, like a
gift of like spoiled riches kind of a thing. But
at the same time, it's like it's hard to accept
that night after night of like coming off the bench
when you know you can start, or starting but playing
like a lesser role when you know you could play
(17:45):
a major one. But I think we do have a
great like character of our group, and like Joe's done
a great job I think of just like reinforcing it
of it's like, yeah, like what are we truly year for?
And like everyone's kind of falling under like what's like
the truth that makes us the best team? And like
we can all be accountable that I don't know if
I've ever seen a team in my like fifteen seasons
(18:08):
covering the league that everyone has bought in on that
and regardless of where they think they can be or
where they think they should be, everyone buying in. It's
it's really been impressive to watch. So the credit goes
to you guys, though, because in the end, that's an
individual decision that every single person has to make to
accept whatever that role is for them on this team. Yeah,
(18:28):
and that's like a weird part. It's like it's funny
where you can be like, all right, well, then how
does like, yeah, how do you kind of harness that?
And it's like it both comes from like every single
individual and then also from like leadership, and it's just
like kind of all has to just like mash in.
Just like every you kind of realize like every action
you can take on any daily basis of like whether
(18:49):
you're like frustrated or whatever it is, it's like, all right, well,
am I going to be accountable to like what actually
helps us? Or am I gonna like kind of put
myself first? And like every person has that decision every
single day, And I mean the more we're just like
reinforcing the team one it. It really is amazing because
it's like every single person I think like has a
role in it, and there's kind of no way to
(19:10):
get around that. Yeah, and they've all performed at a
high level with the rules. That's that's the craziest thing
to me is you can accept it, but then to
be able to perform within it, that that's a real challenge. Yeah,
I think that's like the beauty of it if you
like truly allow yourself to like, all right, what's the
best for us winning? Then like then when you have
your ten minutes of like, all right, this is my
(19:32):
time to do my job and like of helping us all,
and then like also then when I have to step
back and like not play at all or play less
than I helped too, it's like, um, you just have
to like trust that it's actually for the best of
the group and if that is like your tie up
top priority, and it's a lot easier to accept than
if you're kind of like looking over your shoulder, like
(19:53):
protecting yourself the whole time, which that's I do think,
where like we've been very fortunate, like the type of
people brought in and like our leadership is just like
to help guys and actually feel like safe and comfortable
where it's like retrust you. And I think that's also amazing,
Like how much our coach is just like give like
trust the players and know like if we're going to
go far, it's like we have to rely on you guys,
(20:15):
and like vice versa, and yeah, s works out the way.
That's the team atmosphere here with the Celtics. What about
at home? And you talked about that a little bit
earlier in this journey and that you're constantly asking yourself
why am I here? Is it worth it? Is it?
How do you balance that? And how do you make
the decisions to keep going or to Like you said,
(20:40):
you grew up in a basketball household, your dad played professionally.
He also eventually went on and played in Italy. How
do you kind of decide what's worth it and what
makes you keep going? Yeah, that's like I honestly, at
this point in life, it's like literally just like an
every year decision where it's like you kind of have
to assessin and then like once you have like agreed
(21:01):
to be there, then it's like all right, I have
to like honor this commitment, but I think it's just
like important as like a husband and father. It's like
our job kind of being to like serve first and foremost.
And so it's like I like, yeah, you have to
be like really honest with yourself of like am I
actually doing this for like the well being of like
all of us, and or am I just doing it
(21:24):
for myself? And I actually feel like what I'm doing
here is like good. I think about these things a lot,
but like, no, but those are the questions that are
going through everyone who's gone through that situation. That's going
through everyone's head, yeah, and when they have other people
who are relying on them. Obviously, if there's a single
nineteen year old guy out there, it's a little bit different.
When you've got a family, those thoughts are going through
(21:44):
everyone's head. Yeah, And I think I'm like also incredibly
fortunate because of like my dad and my mom and
just like yeah, my dad did play, but he was
retired by the time I was born, and then he
was like our pe teacher basketball coach throughout life and
like watching us kids home, and my like mom was
like a news anchor, so I was working, and like
(22:05):
I think that kind of just like example of like
sacrifice and service is really important, and even for him,
it's like to his like parents, and I'll look the
sacrifices that they've made, and that's like where you kind
of do realize. It's like it's kind of like the
no man is an island kind of thing. It's just
like we have so many people that like if you're alive,
like there's people who's like healthy to get there and
(22:26):
like to make you be there. And so it's like
I think at some point, especially as like a man
and becoming a man and becoming a husband and father,
it's like, am I gonna like give my life for
them and for others? Or am I gonna like do
it for myself? And it's just like it's it's definitely
difficult to actually answer. There's so much also about basketball
(22:47):
and like your career is like oh yeah, just prioritize
your career and everything's about like you and like whatever
it takes for you to kind of do that. And
it's like I really don't think like at the end
of that road they'll be like actual like peace and joy.
It's like you have to be doing it for something
like more than just yourself and whether it's like just
your team or like your family or like whatever that
(23:07):
or like your parents, even like whoever it is that
you're doing it for. I think that will be like
a much more fulfilling and strong purpose than like, yeah,
just kind of like seeking it after for your own sake. Yeah,
one last one for you before we let you go.
The twenty one twenty two season that seemed to kind
of be like a crossroads for you in your career,
where you know, you get traded over to the Celtics
(23:29):
in March of twenty twenty one, you sign with the Celtics, waived,
then a couple two ways, then you come back as
an affiliate player with Maine. Right, I think I have
that process correctly the order of which that happened. How
challenging was that particular year before you signed full time
with the Celtics to make that run to the finals? Yeah,
(23:50):
that was, I feel like, especially that summer before, because
I was like, yeah, coming off the year with Boston
after being traded, which like, yeah, that was like a
really difficult experience, which is also like it's a crazy
thing getting traded, especially like we had just had our
daughter born, like two or three weeks before and so
that was terrible. Yeah, but like you're like, do I
(24:14):
have to because like a real part of getting traded
and like for a lot of people and circumstances too,
is like a feeling of sort of being like given
up on slash it didn't work. Yeah, And it's like
I think you kind of try to push it off,
but I think it's like pretty real for most people.
And sometimes it's like like I feel like Derek coming
from Santaio here is a little bit different, but also
for even for him, it's like you're moving and you're
(24:35):
doing it. Yeah, exactly, it's like a difficult type of thing.
And I think like, so that was hard. And then
like coming back from off the year and just like
having not had a great previous two years, and then
I had like ankle surgery that summer and it was
like all right, you're going through free anacy. Oh oh
oh nope, all right, there's no NBA opportunities at all,
(24:56):
And it's like, all right, well, what is this gonna be?
Like am I still playing and I playing in the league?
Am I playing like overseas? Like what are we gonna
try to do? And like going through that, though, I
think like we chose to go to Maine, and honestly,
like a big part of that was like me and
my wife talking about it and it's like I'm gonna
see how it comes, like after this injury and like
(25:17):
trying to get back and like see how that goes.
M But like a big part of it was like
I want to treat it as like this is the
season that we're spending in Maine, and like don't like
not let it, don't or like like serve the people
there and like play for the team there and like
you're there for that group of people, like you're not
there just to kind of get out of there um.
(25:40):
And I feel like that helps so much that like
eventually in February, when I was the trade ellin happened
called up with that I was even kind of surprised
by and wasn't really expecting. Yeah it was, but it
was like special to be back, and I feel like
to be even like more like affirmed in that purpose
of like I'm gonna be here just for like the
(26:01):
team and for the guys in the locker room and
like I don't really care about anything else other than that.
And that then when we went on that like run
to the finals. Yeah, I was just like you kind
of felt like that purpose like in everyone a little bit.
And I think another part of like choosing to do
it on your own as you start seeing it more
and other people versus like when you're kind of choosing
(26:22):
things selfishly, you like see the other like selfish things.
And so I think like all that was like quite
beautiful and I was really appreciative of like just everyone's
like efforts. And I feel like also that group we
had at the end of last year, just like like
me saying, I'm like Juwan broad Rick, like Matt like Malik, Yeah,
(26:44):
I can Nick like all those guys, like we were
doing our little minute runs as doing our scouts stuff,
and it was like, all right, this is like what
our job is to do, and we were like we're
gonna do it as best as we can, and like
those low minute runs were like a lot of fun
and like prepping for the stuff, like we're actually there
enjoying it. And I think like that was also a
very like great group that we had that I hope
(27:05):
feels like properly appreciate it because like now we're back
into this season but I feel like a lot of
that spirit is kind of like lived on and of
just like everyone accepting where they're at and just like
knowing what you're doing is good and you could do
it poorly, like you know, like it like actually doesn't matter,
you know, like, yeah, you have the opportunity to like
we can come in and do this well, or we
could come and do it bad. Like why don't we
(27:25):
want to We should choose to do it like for good.
And it kind of made that year from the beginning
of it of choosing like, oh, I'm gonna be here
four of these guys and like not just like looking
one foot and one foot out that coming at the
end of the year, it was just like it was
all just about this team and this group that we
have and like there's no room really to like worry
about oh like will I be able to be back
(27:47):
or whatever might happen. It's like we're just gonna be
here and do the best we can with it. Oh
what a great way to wrap it up. Yeah, I mean,
awesome perspective. Awesome perspective for us to hear. I'm sure
the fans are really going to enjoy it that, you know,
it's not always easy, right people are playing professional basketball,
but there's a lot that goes along with especially when
you're really trying to figure out what the next steps are.
(28:08):
So we thank you for taking the time and being
open and honest with us, and I really think people
are going to enjoy the conversation. Oh thanks for having me.
Thank you, Abby. I don't know if there's anyone else
on the team that I'd rather talk to for twenty
twenty five minutes than Luke Cornet and and honestly, he
might be the only guy who would just sit down
and talk with us for as long as we wanted
to talk to but we ran out of time. But
(28:28):
I bet Grant would do it. Graham might do it. Yeah,
we'll find that out later in the season, hopefully. But yeah,
Luke just getting a ton of really perspective on the
challenges that come with trying to make it right. Like
it's we think of these people like Jason Tatum and
Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart who are established in the NBA,
(28:49):
and generally speaking, life is pretty easy on those guys.
They know that they're going to be in the league.
But hearing from someone like Luke who has been up,
then he's been down. Then he's been up and down
and up and down, and really, like we heard it
from him, there were times where he was questioning whether
he should continue. That really stood out to me as
just first and foremost honesty, but then secondly just how
(29:13):
challenging it can be at times for those guys that
are walking that line. What I took away from it
was just how relatable it is for people who are
pursuing their dreams and that it's not always going to
be easy. There are going to be many bumps in
the road, whether it's trying to make it to the
NBA or trying to be a CEO or just trying
to raise a family. It's nothing comes easy. And so
(29:37):
it was just we put these athletes, we put NBA
stars on a pedestal, and we think their life is
just so glamorous and easy, and it's you know, they're
humans too and going through many of this many similar
struggles that all of us are, and so I just
I find Lukes so relatable. Even though he is a
guy who, like you said, he's a renaissance man. He
(29:58):
can play the piano. A lot of guys say he's
the funniest guy in the locker room, perfect score on
his math at ACT. He told me it was ACT. Yeah.
I mean, still, the guy's a genius. Amazing, yes, so
phlagmatic if you will, but also empathetic, and it's nice
to be able to relate to that kind of I
(30:20):
don't want to say struggle, because it is a struggle,
but it's not in the way that I think many
people struggle. But the challenge is an adversity that he
has faced. Yeah, And the other thing that I thought
about in the aftermath of that conversation is for him,
like he went to Vanderbilt, like obviously we just talked
about the ACT scores, Like he's probably gonna be able
to jump into whatever, you know, a line of work
(30:44):
that he wants if if the basketball side doesn't work.
For some of these other guys who are towing this
line and walking this line, basketball is all they know,
it's all they've committed to for their entire lives, he
was the opposite of that. He said that he was
kind of just doing it for fun while he was,
you know, preparing to go to college and whatnot. But
which makes it harder. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, think
(31:04):
about how hard it is for the guys who if
they're telling that line and might not make it, Like
what is that next step in their life? And they've
got to think about this on a day to day basis.
I can't imagine that much weight being on my shoulders
every day going to work and like, okay, like this
might not work out, what the heck is next? But
to me, that's the life lesson that I took from
(31:26):
Luke is that no matter your situation, if you're passionate
and you put one hundred percent of yourself into it,
usually good things come of that. And it's great to
see that happening for him, and I think it's also
something that I try to keep in mind. Well, it
was interesting hearing from him on the personal side, like
(31:47):
the player side, and now we're fortunate enough we're going
to hear about the business side from the current general
manager of the Main Celtics and the former head coach
of the Main Celtics til Christian. He's coming to sit
down with us right now, and I can't wait to
hear what he has to say about, like how do
you handle this stuff from the executive side of handling
these players? Who you know how important these decisions are,
(32:10):
but you also have to look at it. You know
from personal perspective, but you also have to look at
it from that business perspective of the Main Celtics in
the Boston Celtics really trying to accomplish goals. I'm really
looking forward to that conversation. Drell is a guy who
has experienced almost everything there is in basketball, from playing
at a small school, coming up, through the coaching ranks
(32:30):
in the G League, in the NBA, and so he
has a really unique perspective, I think, an all encompassing perspective.
So I'm excited to hear from him, wealth of knowledge,
income from Durell Christians. So, without further ado, let's toss
it over. Here is our conversation with Durell Christian. All Right,
so we started out this episode with Luke Kornett talking
(32:50):
about how he balanced the bouncing around between the NBA
and the G League from a personal and a player perspective.
Now we're bringing in the business side. We got the
man who's calling all the shots for the Main Celtics,
Drell Christian. Darrell, first and foremost, thank you for joining
us today, for having me. I appreciate it absolutely, And secondly,
we want to hear about the business side. Yeah, how
(33:13):
do you go about making decisions and assessing players who's
going to come in, who's not going to come in
when you know that these guys careers could be on
the line based upon what decision they make. The ultimate
goal is to get right exactly. Yeah, I mean, I
think the first part for me is always trying to
(33:35):
figure out if the players align with the values that
we have as an organization. If their their values don't
align with what we believe in here in Boston, it's
a red flag. I don't even look any further. So
it's a lot of conversations I have with the player
before we bring anybody in, and a lot of conversations
have with their agent just trying to figure out what
their goals are in the long term. You know, a
(33:56):
lot of my conversations with especially guys who have been
in the n before and they're trying to make it back,
my first conversation is always you know, what is your
pathway of getting back to the NBA and how can
we help you? And if their answer doesn't align with
what our head coaches or our coaching staff and Maine
believe that they can add value to the team, then
that conversation stops right there. So my biggest thing is
(34:19):
always trying to figure out how we can get them
back to the NBA and if what they're trying to
accomplish aligns with what we want to do in Maine
as well. So it's a lot of honest communication, a
lot of hard conversations on the front end. So hopefully
when things present themselves throughout the season, we've kind of
already got it under apps. Luke kind of touched on
that that that is a challenge of that league and
(34:40):
that you are playing a team game, but everyone has
individual goals and to get people to be in the
right headspace to be able to align behind one mission.
How much of a challenge is that and how do
you navigate that? It's very challenging, you know, And I
think that's why that that first conversation is so important.
A lot of times those versations are the first conversations
(35:02):
they're having with someone in the Celtics organization, no matter
what level. So you have to be intentional with what
you're communicating and what you're messaging from the jump, and
as long as that those messages are consistent throughout the season,
those guys usually can can navigate it. But you know,
uh Riel Shayak, Denzel Valentine, Luke Cornett, Ryan Archie, Gacknotheo
Pins and all guys that have been in the NBA
(35:24):
for a little bit, and we went through the main
Celtics organization and trying to get back to the NBA,
and my conversations with most of those guys were can
you make your teammates better? And can you impact winning?
Those are the two ways the quickest ways to get
back to the NBA. Um if you think you're gonna
come to the G League and just score forty five
fifty every night, it's probably not going to be your
(35:45):
best avenue to get back. So it's like, can you
impact winning and can you make your teammates better? And
once we all are aligned and on the same page
with that messaging, it's kind of easier from there. So
I'm curious because you have the you were the head
coach of the team last year, so you've got great
experience of knowing how well players buy in and if
they live up to their word, and you know all
these types of things. I'm just curious from your perspective
(36:08):
of what you've seen around the league, not necessarily just
with the Celtics, but how difficult is it to find
guys who are willing to accept that they need they
need to they need to come in and try to
impact winning and impacting winning doesn't always It could be
setting great screens, it could be crashing the glass, it
(36:30):
could be being in the right place defensively. It's not
always about putting up thirty points on fifteen twenty shots. Yeah,
and I you know, one of the first conversations we
had as a team, you know, I talked to our
team and Maine about how the rosters are constructed both
at the NBA level and the G league level. Right,
So in the NBA one through fifteen, one through seventeen,
(36:53):
with the two ways usually ten through fifteen, ten through
seventeen or low minute guys that aren't on the court
in the rotation. So those guys are still being evaluated
although they're not playing in the game. So they're being
evaluated on how professional they are, how responsible they are
when their coaches you know, text them or call them.
Are they showing up one time, are they being a
good teammate? Are they doing the right things on the
(37:14):
bench and in the locker room. That's how they're being evaluated,
on top of their low minute work after before practice.
And so my conversation with the team in Maine was,
we've only got twelve players on the roster, right head
coach could play eight or nine, So ten, eleven and twelve.
That's how you're being evaluated. And it's like, can you
be a star in that role? Can you be a
good teammate? Can you show you your professional And then
(37:36):
when you get your opportunity to be in the rotation,
are you ready and are you prepared for it? And
so it's it's it's funny how those two things are
so very similar, because when you're not in the rotation,
all you want to do is play. All you want
to do is find a way to get into it.
They all right, And so that's why when you see
players talk about it like everybody got to this level
because they have some type of confidence and some type
(37:58):
of chip on their shoulder, right, And so it's those
guys that aren't necessarily in the rotation that are still
coming in and being great teammates and busting their butt
to get on the floor that you have the same
issues in the G League, you know, and those roles
in the G League are can you be a great screener?
Can you get guys open? And then if you can
do that at a high level in a small, small dose,
and maybe the head coaches can give you a little
(38:20):
bit more of an opportunity. But it's like you've got
to be able to be a star in your role,
whatever that may be. You know, your role on the
main Celtics might be a defender and a rebounder and
a corner three shotmaker, you know, and can you do
those things? But if you go to a different team,
your role could change. So I think that's the part
that players have to really figure out what can help
(38:41):
the team win where you are and once you're able
to exceed in that, then I think you give yourself
the best chance. Do you mold those roles in Maine
as if the players were here, Like like if someone
was going to be like Luke yep right, for instance,
great screen set and what is that all he's doing
in Maine? Like to chat yeah exactly? Or like for
a guy that might be a three D type of
(39:02):
guy up here, do you use him as a three
D down there or does that change? Yeah? You know,
so my philosophy and that's kind of changed. Um. I've
been in coaching for thirteen fourteen years, so I've only
been a Gem for half a season, right, So, Um,
the lens that I looked through everything is is being
on the coaching side, understanding the dynamics of a locker room,
(39:24):
understanding the dynamics of how you get a team to
be one connected group. And so to your point with
you know, I was very fortunate, blessed, grateful that Remy
Cofield put together the roster that he did for myself
in Maine last year with Sam Houser and Luke Cornette,
because everything we did in Maine was basically as if
(39:47):
they were going to be here, right, and so it
wasn't going to be Sam, you're gonna come in and
take twenty five three, bring the ball up. We're not
going to be in a ton of pick and roll. Um. Luke,
we're gonna limit some of your your threes. You're gonna
just try to be a guy can connect both sides
of the offense and be a run protector. And the
thing that I would do earlier in my coaching career,
especially in the G League, is whether it be a
(40:09):
two way. We gave those guys a ton of freedom
just to be the best player on that team, and
then when they got an opportunity at the NBA level,
they didn't necessarily know how to play exactly the superstars.
And so that's kind of how my mindset has changed
is bringing on other players that have aspirations are getting
to the NBA, that are on the customer making it.
(40:31):
So then when you have you know, Sam or Luke,
those guys feel confident moving the ball and they can
get guys open that can make shots. And so that's
kind of where my philosophy has kind of shifted over
the last couple of years. But to your point, sam
Our thing with him last year was can you be
a good team defender? Can you not get picked on
one on one in isolation? Can you move your feet
(40:53):
and not file and offensively? Can you just space the
floor keep the ball moving, Because if you're playing with
Jason Tatum or Jylen Brown, you're probably not going to
be in pick and roll. You're probably gonna be spaced
and they're gonna find you. So you have to be
able to play off the ball, and same thing with Lukes.
Can you get other guys open for free shots? And
that's exactly what he's been doing this year. And damnit,
Sam can defend. Everyone keeps trying to hunt him out
(41:15):
this year. I don't know what the numbers are, but
I feel like he's done a great job. Stay in
front of him, you know, he's great. The one thing
that he doesn't get enough credit for he's got great
size and length right, so he can stay. He understands angles,
and he understands where he can send guys depending on
where the help defense is. So he's a very high
IQ guy. That was something we talked about last year
in Maine. So a huge credit to him for continuing
(41:35):
to do it. And to your point, he's he's a
better defender than people give him credit for. Those are
two very specific guys who you know, what role they
are going to play on a specific NBA roster. What
about everyone else? And how do you kind of develop
the player development plans for those guys? Does it? How
much does that align with what the team needs? Yeah,
(41:59):
you know, I think part of the roster construction is
being able to put those other pieces around the guys
that are going to be here, you know. Yeah, so
for Fear or JD, right, can you get h Shayak
or Valentine guys that can come off a pick and
roll and play right, Because if JD's doing his job
(42:20):
and he's getting those guys open shots, they got to
be able to make it. And that's kind of what
they're going to be able to do at the NBA
level as well. You know, Shayok would be a guy
that's going to be a backup guard, second side ball handler,
so him being able to come off a pick and
rolls and not necessarily score but find open guys, right,
And so you get Shayak coming off from second side,
Dho getting to the paint. Now he's kicking out and
(42:41):
now JD is getting a set shot where he would
be getting in the NBA game as well. So a
lot of that is just trying to find pieces that
are similar. Obviously maybe on a lesser level in the
G League, but guys still can be able to do
those things and playmate. How are the systems parallel? Are
you running the exact same offensive and defensive systems in
Maine that the Celtics are running in Boston? Yeah? So
(43:03):
you know last year, we try to be pretty spot
on both offensively and defensively, and a huge credit to
Brad Stevens and the rest of the front office and
Joe Missoula, because those guys do a great job of
keeping the two connected. Right. So Alex Barlow is with
us for training camp, you know, and obviously he's been
a part of the organization long time, a long time,
(43:25):
so he knows the ins and outs. He knows Joe
Missoula and how he thinks, you know, pretty well. So
he's able to articulate everything that we're doing here, both
offensively and defensively, to the group in Maine. And you know,
that's essentially what we would want to get to because
we want to see those guys executing our offensive systems
defensive systems, so that gives us the best chance of
(43:46):
evaluating them for our team. Here in Boston. We've seen
some guys and Denzel is a great example, who have
been in the NBA for like, you know, four or
five years or whatever, and then they wind up in
the G League trying to make their way back. I
am so curious to know, and I know I've spoken
to Denzel about this and he just seems like a
(44:06):
great person who's accepting and really wants to he wants
to take the challenge and try to get back. But
I'm just so curious about how how how often does
that happen where guys are willing to embrace that as
opposed to complaining or you know, I don't know, like
taking a personal or kind of caving on you know,
(44:27):
where their career is at that juncture of being in
the league and experiencing the four star hotels and the
first class travel and then obviously taking a step back
in those instances, it is different stan the commercial flights. Yeah,
it's like Luke said, you got to share a room. Yeah,
it's definitely different obviously, you know, waiting at baggage claim
than you know, flights getting delayed, commercial flights, all that
(44:50):
stuff is a headache um, you know, and guys who
have been in the NBA before, you know, that's part
of what we talk about early on is understanding where
you are. You know, you you have to be where
your feet are. This is where you are. You in
the G league for a reason. Use it right, don't
try to avoid it, don't try to duck it, Like,
embrace where you are. Because understanding that once you get
to where you actually want to get to, you're gonna
(45:10):
look back and be so grateful and thankful that you
had this experience. But why are you going through it?
It's tough. Nobody nobody really you know, someone told me
this one time that nobody ever really wants to be
in the G League. Coaches want to get to the NBA,
players want to get to the NBA. So how can
you make the time that you're in the G League
meaningful and the players feel and the staff feel like
they're getting something out of it? And my number one
(45:31):
answer was always double down on the development. Double down
on the development of the players, double down on the
development of the staff. Make them feel like they're invested
in their own development, but they're also helping one another,
because if you're trying to do it, you know, by yourself,
it's going to be a long, lonely road. So it's
really being able to create an environment where it's inclusive
and everybody feels like they have a say and what's
(45:52):
going on in the grand scope of things. The roster,
though similar to the NBA, and even more so, I
feel like in the G League are fluid in that
guys are. Some guys are getting the call up, some
guys are I don't know, not have Moving on to
a different situation, yeah, I will say, Um, you told
(46:13):
the story recently about being at the showcase in Las
Vegas and you had like eight guys called up. Yeah,
to feel the team on the floor. How do you
navigate that? How challenging is that? And how do you
do that? What do you even do in that situation?
You control what you can control, right, You make lemon
out of you make lemonade out of limits in that regard,
(46:33):
you know. So it's one of those like when you're
a coach in the G League, you you understand that
your best players are probably not going to be with
you for the entirety of the season. At some point
they're going to be, you know, either called up for
a ten day, they're going to be up at their
parent club if they're in two ways. So it's just
you understand that small dynamic of it. The ones that
(46:55):
really hurt are the guys are on the back end
of the roster or the guys that are just rotational
players that want more of an opportunity to play, that
demand a trade or want to get to a different
situation because those pieces are so hard to find, good
rotation players that are willing to play, you know, twelve
(47:16):
to fifteen minutes when you're fully healthy, but then when
those other players aren't there, they're into a starting role
and playing thirty five minutes. So those are the ones
that are always a little bit more tricky um to navigate.
But to your point, like coaches, we always knew that
when you're at full strength and everybody's healthy, you better
win those games because in a week you're probably not
(47:37):
going to have three or four. Yeah, And the other
part is you never really know what your opponent is
going to have on any given day either, you know,
so you don't know your opponent and they don't you know,
you don't. You go over tendencies. You you focus on yourself.
You understand ways that you can get better as a team.
At the end of the day, no matter if it's
(47:58):
one through twelve, when a team, you're gonna want them
to the right ram read. You're gonna want them to
play defense, and you're gonna want them to understand where
their help is and team defense, and so it's like
you double down on what you've been teaching from day
one in training camp. It's so unique because and I
kind of threw this out to Luke that like in
minor league baseball, it's the same as MLB. It's there's
(48:19):
not really like the individual hunting, yeah exactly, and there's
not so many moving pieces. It's just totally different. It
seems so unstable down there, but like somehow these guys
battle through, which leads me to the last thing that
I want to talk to you about. And I think
you've covered a little bit in spurts here during this conversation,
but what is it that's working here like the Boston
(48:41):
Celtics and Main Celtics, there's something of that connection and
the way the system is being run and the culture
is being built that is leading to great results like
every year. I mean, we've got obviously Luke and Sam
are now full time with the Celtics. Awesome, congrats to them.
They've they've done a great job. But we might have
that coming next year with more guys. And we had
(49:04):
Tackle fall here who was here for a couple of years,
who was doing a great job and being a great
locker room guy and then actually made some plays out
on the court for the team at certain times. So
what is it that's working, what's in the water here
in New England that is leading to the success between
the two franchises. Yeah, I mean, I think, first and foremost,
it starts with our scouting department doing a great job
(49:26):
identifying not just talent, but talent with high character that
could potentially grow to be on the Boston Celtics in
some capacity. I think that's the biggest thing in my opinion.
And then obviously with the coaching staffs and even the
staff there in Maine, them understanding long term goals for
(49:48):
not just themselves but for the players and being able
to execute that, you know. And I think those are
all conversations that Brad has with barlow, I have with
Barlow and the rest of the staff. And once everybody's
kind of on the same page understand what the expectations are,
it makes everything just flow smooth. And to Alex Barlowe's credit,
it's his first time being a head coach, you know,
(50:10):
he's been waiting for this opportunity for a while and
now he's got it, you know, and he's got a
really good team and they've been doing a great job
this year. The other part is that we don't necessarily
jeopardize or compromise the wins just to basically we don't
try to just get talent just to get wins. We
want to focus on the development right and in order
(50:33):
to do that, you have to have a certain character
type of player. And so we're never going to compromise that.
We're not going to bring in a low character guy
that can go out and get you fifty. We're going
to probably try to get you the highest character guy
that we can that can fit into the grand scheme
of what we're trying to accomplish her in Boston. And conversely,
you would imagine that those types of people are seeing
(50:54):
that that's what you're building here, and that would make
those types of people that would attract them to want
to be a part of this all. I mean, I'll
go quick story. Tony Snow is another guy that's been
in the NBA for you know, almost nine years, and
so he was just sitting at home working out in Orlando.
His agent reached out to me a couple of weeks
ago and said, hey, do you have any interest in Tony?
And my initial thought was no, not at all. And
(51:19):
so after the conversations continue to grow a little bit
because you didn't want to add that element into the
locker room. Yeah, I mean I just didn't know what
to excause you never really know what to expect. These
guys who have been in the NBA for years usually
can come in and want to be the man, or
they want to come into a starting role, or there
have expectations up I'm going to get X number of shots,
(51:39):
and I just wasn't willing to mess with what we
had going on there to accommodate a player that was
obviously very talented. I wanted to see that group that
we had continue to take the leap forward with their
development and have some continuity with it. And so the
role that we had was basically the ninth spot, the
ninth man, and I was like, I don't think he's
(52:00):
going to be happy with the role that we have
for him. And so my conversations with Tony's I was like,
you know, understanding, this is a ninth ninth man role.
He's probably gonna play fifteen minutes a night. And his
answer to me was, coach, whatever you need me to do,
I'm ready. And when he says that, that gives me
the freedom and Barlow the freedom to coach him as
(52:21):
hard as we need to coach him because our first
conversation you committed to coming off the bench and accepting
a ninth man or fifteen minute role, and so now
things can groom and happen organically after that conversation, and
if you play and start and play thirty five minutes
in the long run like perfect, that's I'm happy for you,
but understanding when you come in here, this is what
it is, yea. And so when you get guys like that, it's,
(52:43):
you know, it makes my job a lot easier, but
it's also why I root for some of those guys
so hard. And credit to you as well, Girell, for
finding those people. But just to be clear about who
you are. You are the Brad Stevens of the main Celtics,
gone from head coach two GM in a year and
clearly have a great handle on everything that's going on.
(53:04):
Thank you. I mean, I've got a lot of great
advice and Brad's always there to you know, lend a
hand or if I have any ideas that I want
to bounce off, and he's always open and honest, and
we've had a great relationship over the last couple of years.
So so I'm thankful for him. Well, we're thankful for
you because, as I said, something is working, something is working,
and it's been great to hear, you know, not only
(53:24):
from Luke but also from you about how what is
leading to this success and what really goes on and
for those players who were telling that line. So Darrell,
appreciate you coming on good luck the rest of the
season and we're looking forward to seeing what the main
Celtics have to have to deliver the rest of the season.
Thank you, I appreciate it. Awesome. Thank you.
Welcome everyone. This is View from the Rafters today. We're
bringing in a man who hails from basketball country life
is funny. Okay, oh well don't go there, not yet.
Well we talk about it now. The Bust One Boys
is the crazy story, not actortball. It's a crazy thing
to me. It's like where you came from. Yeah, we're
all older than we think. We are always Gold League
Gray Baby. All right, we're back for another episode of
(00:25):
You from the Rafters. Behind the scenes with the Boston Celtics.
Mark to me go here with Abby Chin. Today's episode
is really all about figuring out what it's like to
kind of tow that line and find your way in
the NBA, experiencing time in the G League, and really
the challenges that come along with that. Abbey. Fortunately, we
have a man who can talk to us about all
of that right now. It's Luke Cornett. We're gonna start
(00:45):
out talking to you about that in a minute, though,
but first I want to talk to you about this season.
I mean, it's been a lot of fun to watch
you guys. From what I've seen and heard, a lot
of people have said that this has been their favorite
locker room that they've ever been a part of Can
you kind of just tell us and take us inside
and what's it been like from a camaraderie perspective. Yeah,
I think it's been terrific. I mean, honestly, well, the
(01:06):
whole group, everyone in the locker room. It is a
pretty rare thing I think to like have, especially in
the NBA. And I don't know, I feel like it's
like the perfect storm of a lot of things, but
just like a lot of guys just wanting and willing
to buy in, and I think something cool. It's just
like also so many guys back from last year, I
think we're kind of just even brought closer in that.
(01:27):
But also I'm from top to bottom in the organization.
I think we're very like both accepting of people, but
then also like we have a goal that we want
to get to, and so it's like how does everyone
fit in? And everyone I think that they bring in
is very like willing and able to buy into that.
I mean, yeah, it's definitely special relationships that don't come
(01:47):
along very often. And like I think it's awesome to
hear like whenever anyone's kind of talking about it, because
I think it is like true and I really do
appreciate like everyone here, and we've gone a great group
of guys, and it's makes it even more fun to
play on the court with him. Speaking of fun, Lake
told us about the bus one Boys. Yes, it has
(02:07):
caused fanfare online. They're like, because he threw it out
there that there might be some merch. We're waiting for
the merch. You have a theme, there's there's a theme.
I crafted it in about ten minutes on the bus
on the way to a game. Would you like to share? Well, share,
We'll say it's uh, we're gonna have to pay a
little bit of royalties off to Billy Joel from Uptown Girl. Yeah,
(02:31):
who has taken Uptown Girl. It's bus boys and there's
a couple. I think it's gonna it's a little bit
less exactly our group and more about bus one boys
throughout the NBA and the weird experiences that you go
to when you arrive at the arena at three o'clock
for a seven thirty game. That's not exactly accurate, but
it was typerbole and that's a literary device. Okay, I
want to hear about the experiences, but first I want
(02:56):
to hear about that group and you talk about the
special camaraderie in this locker room. How special is that
group in particular? Yeah, it's great. It's kind of funny
because I don't know if I've ever been on a
group where like when we're coming on the bus to
go to the game, like we're talking like basically the
entire ride, or like all bus rides in general, which
(03:16):
like it's pretty quiet, everyone's got headphones on and stuff
like that. But it's yeah, so yeah, me Blake, Peyton, Sam,
it was just and Jay Jack was a big baron
no or a big part of it. But um, yeah.
The first part about it that makes it such a
strong IDENTI is there's like significant and intense shaming if
(03:39):
you're ever not on bus one. So it's definitely like
it's all happy and positive vised, but there is a deep,
deep fear underlying all of it of being ostracized from
the group. And I feel like it's that fear that
really makes the best of us all come out together.
It's a great lesson first byron coaches out there. What
is the strangest thing that's happened to you? Arriving at
an arena four hours before tip? Uh? What's a lot
(04:02):
of time together too, like just that group um and
this is he shout out Jay Jack. I think just
like the process of like when you're like warming up
and going to work out like three and a half
hours before they get like and you get like great,
nice and loose, and then you just sit for like
two and a half hours. Yeah. And then also that
like every single halftime timeout, anthem, all those things get rehearsed,
(04:28):
like every single time, and you're trying to shoot and
there's like the anthem and the lights are going out
are like encroaching on the three point line, and it
was like, this is like my fifteen minutes. If I
could just really have my fifteen minutes. But that's the
part of the bus one. Yeah, you got you gotta
release control. Yeah for sure. Do you think that fear
that you talked about is the reason why Blake actually
(04:50):
came to the bus in LA from his house and
didn't go direct assuredly? Yeah, definitely. I think because everybody
been one time. I don't know if it's him or
I think it might have been no early on where
I think because someone was out that night, he had
a later shooting time because that happens sometimes and if
you don't formally issue like hey, I'm not going to
be on bus one, is that like on a thread busy? Yeah? Yeah,
(05:12):
we gotta Oh gosh, that's a whole other Yeah. Yeah,
I think that was a part of it, because like
once someone doesn't mention it, then uh, there's a whole
coming back like a not what am I trying to
bring them back in kind of process. We don't just
accept your wholeheartedly. It is Yes, you earn love in
(05:35):
bust one for sure. All right. So moving on from
bus one to the top of it hand today, Um,
obviously we all know there's some players like Jason Tatum
who you know, they're in the league and they know
they're going to be there forever until they choose not
to all health permitted. Then there's other people who kind
of have to walk that line and really like work
their way every single day potentially through the G League,
(05:57):
potentially through two way two ways, and potentially maybe on
that like fourteenth fifteenth roster spot. You've had to experience that.
What is it like to walk that line both from
a personal perspective and then also all of your family
who's involved in that as well, yeah, yeah, that's a yeah,
it's weird because you don't really know like any other
(06:18):
experience I guess than your own. But it is difficult
because like especially like the apps and or apps and
flows of it, and like there's times where you feel
like it's just only going to be up and up
and up, and then when it does kind of go
down and like really having to I think you just
really have to like assess and understand and realize like
(06:38):
why it is that you're doing this and choosing it
and playing basketball and like whether especially like for family
and stuff like that, when there are a lot less
like secure type of positions that you're often like putting
yourself into, whether it's like trying to make the team
in training camp or going to the G League or
whatever that might be, I think you have to like
(06:58):
face that ale a lot, like in a much deeper way,
which it's it's definitely difficult, and I think, like especially
on the family side of things, it's hard. And actually
this is something that me and Justin talked about quite
a bit, but it's like you really have to like
answer those questions and face those questions because when you
might be going somewhere where it's like, all right, I
can maybe be here for like a month, but then
(07:19):
I might get waved. But then hopefully I make it,
but I'm not really sure, and so it's like do
we even move up here? Are we staying far apart?
Especially as you start having like a family and children
and stuff like that. It's definitely like, yeah, you said
to face those decisions and really like choose it. But
I think something that's great about it is that like
you do have to face those reasons and like find
(07:41):
out why you are choosing to do this, and hopefully
you don't just like keep kind of just like oh,
no matter what it takes, I'm gonna be doing this
kind of thing. It's like why is it that I'm
really trying to play basketball? And where am I trying
to play basketball? And like what can I what do
I want to provide? And what can I like bring
and like all those types of things are like questions
I think that you're short of faced with, which then
(08:02):
if I think you do eventually can like make your way.
I think you're a lot more confident in yourself as
like a person as a player, because you know it
is like why you're there and what you bring and
it's funny. It definitely like looks like it definitely is
adversity and challenge and like suffering in that, but I
think like it is a very purifying thing to undergo
and probably a weird experience for like a lot of guys.
(08:25):
And that's even like the same thing of like guys
who think they could be stars but ended up having
to be like role players and like, yeah, there's different
tiers to that, like all throughout the league, and I
think that's something that like in being in Maine last year,
I think I was so like going through that year
was like I know why I'm playing basketball and what
(08:45):
it is that like I want my life and career
to look like that. When I was able to be
here in Boston, it's like all that stuff stays the same,
and you're a lot more like rock solid, I think,
and like who you are as like a player and
teammate and all that kind of thing, because in reality,
you were built for this, right Luke. I mean going
through your experiences with basketball coming out of high school,
(09:07):
I read zero D one scholarship offers and you would
to bet on yourself playing in an AU tournament in
the summer before you got the scholarship offer from Vanderbilt
and then coming out of college going undrafted, and how
has that prepared you for this? Yeah, that's like kind
of another part of it that like it's like honestly
(09:28):
about blessing. I now look at it because its like
I never had it. I never felt like, oh, I
have like expectations on myself. Really, Like when I was
playing in high school, it was just like playing to
have fun. And my sisters older it was like an
All American and recruited since she was like in eighth
grade and all that kind of stuff, and I didn't
have any of that, but it was just like kind
of playing for fun. And then like yeah, kind of
(09:50):
that whole scholarship to Vanderbilt thing ended up happening, which
is like a school I wanted to go to, my
parents had gone to, and it's just like, yeah, praise God,
like you just like laid it out, but I like
and every step of the way it was kind of
just like, oh, you're still playing basketball and hopefully I
can keep doing It wasn't until college's like okay, maybe
I could be a professional, but who really knows an
ideal with injuries in college and like the two way
(10:12):
kind of a thing, and so I felt like the
whole time it was just like I was pretty fortunate
to feel like I was always playing basketball just to
be like playing basketball and like sort of very like
purity of the game kind of a way, because I
never really like expected or thought or knew or it
wasn't I was like so late developing that, like it
(10:33):
fortunately just kind of like happened as I was playing
basketball and not like there's ever any like pressure or
feeling that I should be this or that. And yeah,
I do think it's helped me so much and be
able to realize that and also be able to just
like empathize with guys who were in the same position
as me, who kind of like didn't have the chance.
But then also the guys who were from the time
(10:54):
they're thirteen, they're like, oh, you're the next whatever, and
like the pressure that that is for kids, and um,
I think just being able to take every teammate just
like as a complete unique situation and just like the
person that they are, uh, because like my own experiences
taught me and it's like if I was at seven
two and I was like six seven, I would not
be in the NBA, and like all of us have
been also like giving like incredible blessings to even like
(11:16):
have the opportunity to do it. And I think it's
only like realizing how much we've just been like given
that we're fortunate of as well that like then you
can be like, oh, I do like work hard, and
I like it's like true confidence, you know, versus like
I'm just thinking all the stuff should just happen because
like it's supposed to happen or something that I gotta
tell you from my perspective, I'm like my whole life.
(11:37):
I'm like, if if I wasn't five ten, five eleven
and I was seven two, I would be in the NBA.
So I'm the opposite of that aspect. Yeah, everyone would
be able to win mill and dunk crazy. If you
don't know the fact that long levers have on your athleticism,
I don't know. I'm just making up words at this point.
But an interesting thing that you do that often. An
(11:59):
interesting thing that you said during during that answer was
that you were kind of playing for fun, and then
at some point it changed where I feel like the
majority of NBA players are the opposite where they're like
their whole lives, they're like I want to be a pro.
I want to be a pro, and then like that's
what their motivation is. At what point did that change
for you? Yeah? The first time I think was after
(12:22):
my freshman year of college, because I was like still developing, growing,
and I was, like I said, started to get like
a little bit like stronger and more coordinate stuff. And
I was definitely a thought then. And then like by
the time after my sophomore year, I thought like, oh yeah,
I really think I could play. And then it was
interually that summer I ended up like breaking my foot,
which is like one of those things where I was like, oh, well,
(12:44):
this is like all ruined. But I think at the
time was probably almost like and I woul probably like
a lot of like protecting my ended up like protecting
myself from like started to sort of get ahead of
myself of like feeling like I probably wasn't really ready
for it honestly at that time. Um, and so that
it was like kind of like through that college time period,
(13:05):
but like it's amazing, just like even like once you're
in the NBA or I was a two way and
all that kind of stuff. It's like all right, well
even once like you're playing games, it's like, well or
not even in the playoffs and it's like you want
to play and like a playoff team and like aspire
for a championship. It's like what role do you play
on that team? Could you play a role on that team?
Kind of a thing. Uh, is always kind of like
(13:25):
a question that's sort of lingering, so like almost like
every step of the way, it's like you kind of
know what your cable of, but you also like want
to sort of know what is the limit of that
or like how far can you keep going? And um, yeah,
it's kind of live out your life. Another fortunate thing
that happened for you is you came into the league
(13:46):
the first year there was a two way contract, signing
with the New York Knicks. You're the knicks very first
two way contract player. Yeah right there, Yeah, but forever
in storage franchise. Um, but can you kind of take
us through the G league grind because it's different. How
is it different from the NBA when you're traveling, what
(14:07):
you're going through, what you're experiencing. Uh, Yeah, the g
leage is a lot different. I think like, well, yeah,
I think it's pretty fortunate. In our team that we
had in Westchester shout out Westchester Knicks twenty seventeen. Great group.
Like we had a lot of guys who were first
year rookies, which is like one part of it. But
then we also had Trey Burke on the team who
had sometimes in Utah and then was like out and
(14:27):
playing in the G League. So you kind of like
a part of both sides. Yeah, a lot less luxurious,
a lot more all right, holiday inn in suits here
in Canton. What's the restaurant proximity, Because it's like you're
just hoping that there's like two places that are somewhat
decent that like are less than a mile walk in
the snow, and those are like but it's kind of
(14:48):
all fun, like like I think coming out of college
it was like you're a little bit more ready for that,
but then coming back when I was in Maine, it
is like a very different place that you're kind of
at when you've been in the NBA for a little bit,
and especially family and all those kinds of things, where, yeah,
it definitely has its own challenges and like and it's
a weird thing where like I feel like everyone is
(15:10):
trying to play to like get to the next level,
which is a pretty unique part about it because like
you don't really have There's might be people in college
that are like that, but like generally it's not like
that or in the NBA and stuff. But I think
that aspect of it is probably the most challenging because
especially for myself and how it was like, oh no,
there's always like a certain way that we're trying to play,
but then you have guys who are like strictly trying
(15:30):
to play for that and trying to build a culture
of like like I don't know, I just have a
strong We've like whatever it takes to win, it's going
to be kind of like the best idea for you
to do, even if you're trying to be in the
NBA kind of thing. Yeah, exactly, And so I think
that is probably, like, at least for me, probably the
hardest part about it was like trying to handle that
(15:54):
and just like I feel like you can have peace
with yourself pretty easily if like you're actually really trying
to win and like trying to do the best you
can and like living with that result. But then it
does get to like February March, and if guys haven't
gotten called up, like there's like pressure that people are feeling,
and right, really hard to play a role that you've
been given. Yeah, yeah, even if you are starring in
that role, it may not be showcasing what you want
(16:16):
to showcase. Yeah, it's but that's like, I mean, that's
like the difficult thing about like everyone's career in general,
because like generally everyone here has been the best player
or like among that um on their teams grow like
throughout life, and so like trying to find out what
your role and career and how you fit in it
kind of makes you have to answer the question of like, oh,
(16:38):
do I really want to like win or do I
just want to win if I get to do what
I want? And everyone has to kind of fill in
around that. Yeah, And that I think is like, uh,
I probably like the most the biggest challenge of like
going through your career professional sports in general. Yeah. Yeah,
it's like all right, do yeah, what it actually is
the thing that's best for winning? And do you actually
like accept that or not, which kind of goes back
(17:01):
to your original question is what makes this team in
this group? But the Celtics. This season so special and
everyone has that one mind on the mission. Yeah, definitely,
And that's like, I mean, obviously it's been talked about
a lot, but we have so many guys who could
have different roles in other places. And it's a funny
thing when it's like you've got some guys who might
be playing like twenty minutes or ten minutes or zero minutes,
(17:23):
who like the next game, could be playing like thirty
something and be like the best player on the court.
And it's like it's a complete like yeah, like a
gift of like spoiled riches kind of a thing. But
at the same time, it's like it's hard to accept
that night after night of like coming off the bench
when you know you can start, or starting but playing
like a lesser role when you know you could play
(17:45):
a major one. But I think we do have a
great like character of our group, and like Joe's done
a great job I think of just like reinforcing it
of it's like, yeah, like what are we truly year for?
And like everyone's kind of falling under like what's like
the truth that makes us the best team? And like
we can all be accountable that I don't know if
I've ever seen a team in my like fifteen seasons
(18:08):
covering the league that everyone has bought in on that
and regardless of where they think they can be or
where they think they should be, everyone buying in. It's
it's really been impressive to watch. So the credit goes
to you guys, though, because in the end, that's an
individual decision that every single person has to make to
accept whatever that role is for them on this team. Yeah,
(18:28):
and that's like a weird part. It's like it's funny
where you can be like, all right, well, then how
does like, yeah, how do you kind of harness that?
And it's like it both comes from like every single
individual and then also from like leadership, and it's just
like kind of all has to just like mash in.
Just like every you kind of realize like every action
you can take on any daily basis of like whether
(18:49):
you're like frustrated or whatever it is, it's like, all right, well,
am I going to be accountable to like what actually
helps us? Or am I gonna like kind of put
myself first? And like every person has that decision every
single day, And I mean the more we're just like
reinforcing the team one it. It really is amazing because
it's like every single person I think like has a
role in it, and there's kind of no way to
(19:10):
get around that. Yeah, and they've all performed at a
high level with the rules. That's that's the craziest thing
to me is you can accept it, but then to
be able to perform within it, that that's a real challenge. Yeah,
I think that's like the beauty of it if you
like truly allow yourself to like, all right, what's the
best for us winning? Then like then when you have
your ten minutes of like, all right, this is my
(19:32):
time to do my job and like of helping us all,
and then like also then when I have to step
back and like not play at all or play less
than I helped too, it's like, um, you just have
to like trust that it's actually for the best of
the group and if that is like your tie up
top priority, and it's a lot easier to accept than
if you're kind of like looking over your shoulder, like
(19:53):
protecting yourself the whole time, which that's I do think,
where like we've been very fortunate, like the type of
people brought in and like our leadership is just like
to help guys and actually feel like safe and comfortable
where it's like retrust you. And I think that's also amazing,
Like how much our coach is just like give like
trust the players and know like if we're going to
go far, it's like we have to rely on you guys,
(20:15):
and like vice versa, and yeah, s works out the way.
That's the team atmosphere here with the Celtics. What about
at home? And you talked about that a little bit
earlier in this journey and that you're constantly asking yourself
why am I here? Is it worth it? Is it?
How do you balance that? And how do you make
the decisions to keep going or to Like you said,
(20:40):
you grew up in a basketball household, your dad played professionally.
He also eventually went on and played in Italy. How
do you kind of decide what's worth it and what
makes you keep going? Yeah, that's like I honestly, at
this point in life, it's like literally just like an
every year decision where it's like you kind of have
to assessin and then like once you have like agreed
(21:01):
to be there, then it's like all right, I have
to like honor this commitment, but I think it's just
like important as like a husband and father. It's like
our job kind of being to like serve first and foremost.
And so it's like I like, yeah, you have to
be like really honest with yourself of like am I
actually doing this for like the well being of like
all of us, and or am I just doing it
(21:24):
for myself? And I actually feel like what I'm doing
here is like good. I think about these things a lot,
but like, no, but those are the questions that are
going through everyone who's gone through that situation. That's going
through everyone's head, yeah, and when they have other people
who are relying on them. Obviously, if there's a single
nineteen year old guy out there, it's a little bit different.
When you've got a family, those thoughts are going through
(21:44):
everyone's head. Yeah, And I think I'm like also incredibly
fortunate because of like my dad and my mom and
just like yeah, my dad did play, but he was
retired by the time I was born, and then he
was like our pe teacher basketball coach throughout life and
like watching us kids home, and my like mom was
like a news anchor, so I was working, and like
(22:05):
I think that kind of just like example of like
sacrifice and service is really important, and even for him,
it's like to his like parents, and I'll look the
sacrifices that they've made, and that's like where you kind
of do realize. It's like it's kind of like the
no man is an island kind of thing. It's just
like we have so many people that like if you're alive,
like there's people who's like healthy to get there and
(22:26):
like to make you be there. And so it's like
I think at some point, especially as like a man
and becoming a man and becoming a husband and father,
it's like, am I gonna like give my life for
them and for others? Or am I gonna like do
it for myself? And it's just like it's it's definitely
difficult to actually answer. There's so much also about basketball
(22:47):
and like your career is like oh yeah, just prioritize
your career and everything's about like you and like whatever
it takes for you to kind of do that. And
it's like I really don't think like at the end
of that road they'll be like actual like peace and joy.
It's like you have to be doing it for something
like more than just yourself and whether it's like just
your team or like your family or like whatever that
(23:07):
or like your parents, even like whoever it is that
you're doing it for. I think that will be like
a much more fulfilling and strong purpose than like, yeah,
just kind of like seeking it after for your own sake. Yeah,
one last one for you before we let you go.
The twenty one twenty two season that seemed to kind
of be like a crossroads for you in your career,
where you know, you get traded over to the Celtics
(23:29):
in March of twenty twenty one, you sign with the Celtics, waived,
then a couple two ways, then you come back as
an affiliate player with Maine. Right, I think I have
that process correctly the order of which that happened. How
challenging was that particular year before you signed full time
with the Celtics to make that run to the finals? Yeah,
(23:50):
that was, I feel like, especially that summer before, because
I was like, yeah, coming off the year with Boston
after being traded, which like, yeah, that was like a
really difficult experience, which is also like it's a crazy
thing getting traded, especially like we had just had our
daughter born, like two or three weeks before and so
that was terrible. Yeah, but like you're like, do I
(24:14):
have to because like a real part of getting traded
and like for a lot of people and circumstances too,
is like a feeling of sort of being like given
up on slash it didn't work. Yeah, And it's like
I think you kind of try to push it off,
but I think it's like pretty real for most people.
And sometimes it's like like I feel like Derek coming
from Santaio here is a little bit different, but also
for even for him, it's like you're moving and you're
(24:35):
doing it. Yeah, exactly, it's like a difficult type of thing.
And I think like, so that was hard. And then
like coming back from off the year and just like
having not had a great previous two years, and then
I had like ankle surgery that summer and it was
like all right, you're going through free anacy. Oh oh
oh nope, all right, there's no NBA opportunities at all,
(24:56):
And it's like, all right, well, what is this gonna be?
Like am I still playing and I playing in the league?
Am I playing like overseas? Like what are we gonna
try to do? And like going through that, though, I
think like we chose to go to Maine, and honestly,
like a big part of that was like me and
my wife talking about it and it's like I'm gonna
see how it comes, like after this injury and like
(25:17):
trying to get back and like see how that goes.
M But like a big part of it was like
I want to treat it as like this is the
season that we're spending in Maine, and like don't like
not let it, don't or like like serve the people
there and like play for the team there and like
you're there for that group of people, like you're not
there just to kind of get out of there um.
(25:40):
And I feel like that helps so much that like
eventually in February, when I was the trade ellin happened
called up with that I was even kind of surprised
by and wasn't really expecting. Yeah it was, but it
was like special to be back, and I feel like
to be even like more like affirmed in that purpose
of like I'm gonna be here just for like the
(26:01):
team and for the guys in the locker room and
like I don't really care about anything else other than that.
And that then when we went on that like run
to the finals. Yeah, I was just like you kind
of felt like that purpose like in everyone a little bit.
And I think another part of like choosing to do
it on your own as you start seeing it more
and other people versus like when you're kind of choosing
(26:22):
things selfishly, you like see the other like selfish things.
And so I think like all that was like quite
beautiful and I was really appreciative of like just everyone's
like efforts. And I feel like also that group we
had at the end of last year, just like like
me saying, I'm like Juwan broad Rick, like Matt like Malik, Yeah,
(26:44):
I can Nick like all those guys, like we were
doing our little minute runs as doing our scouts stuff,
and it was like, all right, this is like what
our job is to do, and we were like we're
gonna do it as best as we can, and like
those low minute runs were like a lot of fun
and like prepping for the stuff, like we're actually there
enjoying it. And I think like that was also a
very like great group that we had that I hope
(27:05):
feels like properly appreciate it because like now we're back
into this season but I feel like a lot of
that spirit is kind of like lived on and of
just like everyone accepting where they're at and just like
knowing what you're doing is good and you could do
it poorly, like you know, like it like actually doesn't matter,
you know, like, yeah, you have the opportunity to like
we can come in and do this well, or we
could come and do it bad. Like why don't we
(27:25):
want to We should choose to do it like for good.
And it kind of made that year from the beginning
of it of choosing like, oh, I'm gonna be here
four of these guys and like not just like looking
one foot and one foot out that coming at the
end of the year, it was just like it was
all just about this team and this group that we
have and like there's no room really to like worry
about oh like will I be able to be back
(27:47):
or whatever might happen. It's like we're just gonna be
here and do the best we can with it. Oh
what a great way to wrap it up. Yeah, I mean,
awesome perspective. Awesome perspective for us to hear. I'm sure
the fans are really going to enjoy it that, you know,
it's not always easy, right people are playing professional basketball,
but there's a lot that goes along with especially when
you're really trying to figure out what the next steps are.
(28:08):
So we thank you for taking the time and being
open and honest with us, and I really think people
are going to enjoy the conversation. Oh thanks for having me.
Thank you, Abby. I don't know if there's anyone else
on the team that I'd rather talk to for twenty
twenty five minutes than Luke Cornet and and honestly, he
might be the only guy who would just sit down
and talk with us for as long as we wanted
to talk to but we ran out of time. But
(28:28):
I bet Grant would do it. Graham might do it. Yeah,
we'll find that out later in the season, hopefully. But yeah,
Luke just getting a ton of really perspective on the
challenges that come with trying to make it right. Like
it's we think of these people like Jason Tatum and
Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart who are established in the NBA,
(28:49):
and generally speaking, life is pretty easy on those guys.
They know that they're going to be in the league.
But hearing from someone like Luke who has been up,
then he's been down. Then he's been up and down
and up and down, and really, like we heard it
from him, there were times where he was questioning whether
he should continue. That really stood out to me as
just first and foremost honesty, but then secondly just how
(29:13):
challenging it can be at times for those guys that
are walking that line. What I took away from it
was just how relatable it is for people who are
pursuing their dreams and that it's not always going to
be easy. There are going to be many bumps in
the road, whether it's trying to make it to the
NBA or trying to be a CEO or just trying
to raise a family. It's nothing comes easy. And so
(29:37):
it was just we put these athletes, we put NBA
stars on a pedestal, and we think their life is
just so glamorous and easy, and it's you know, they're
humans too and going through many of this many similar
struggles that all of us are, and so I just
I find Lukes so relatable. Even though he is a
guy who, like you said, he's a renaissance man. He
(29:58):
can play the piano. A lot of guys say he's
the funniest guy in the locker room, perfect score on
his math at ACT. He told me it was ACT. Yeah.
I mean, still, the guy's a genius. Amazing, yes, so
phlagmatic if you will, but also empathetic, and it's nice
to be able to relate to that kind of I
(30:20):
don't want to say struggle, because it is a struggle,
but it's not in the way that I think many
people struggle. But the challenge is an adversity that he
has faced. Yeah, And the other thing that I thought
about in the aftermath of that conversation is for him,
like he went to Vanderbilt, like obviously we just talked
about the ACT scores, Like he's probably gonna be able
to jump into whatever, you know, a line of work
(30:44):
that he wants if if the basketball side doesn't work.
For some of these other guys who are towing this
line and walking this line, basketball is all they know,
it's all they've committed to for their entire lives, he
was the opposite of that. He said that he was
kind of just doing it for fun while he was,
you know, preparing to go to college and whatnot. But
which makes it harder. That's what I'm saying. Yeah, think
(31:04):
about how hard it is for the guys who if
they're telling that line and might not make it, Like
what is that next step in their life? And they've
got to think about this on a day to day basis.
I can't imagine that much weight being on my shoulders
every day going to work and like, okay, like this
might not work out, what the heck is next? But
to me, that's the life lesson that I took from
(31:26):
Luke is that no matter your situation, if you're passionate
and you put one hundred percent of yourself into it,
usually good things come of that. And it's great to
see that happening for him, and I think it's also
something that I try to keep in mind. Well, it
was interesting hearing from him on the personal side, like
(31:47):
the player side, and now we're fortunate enough we're going
to hear about the business side from the current general
manager of the Main Celtics and the former head coach
of the Main Celtics til Christian. He's coming to sit
down with us right now, and I can't wait to
hear what he has to say about, like how do
you handle this stuff from the executive side of handling
these players? Who you know how important these decisions are,
(32:10):
but you also have to look at it. You know
from personal perspective, but you also have to look at
it from that business perspective of the Main Celtics in
the Boston Celtics really trying to accomplish goals. I'm really
looking forward to that conversation. Drell is a guy who
has experienced almost everything there is in basketball, from playing
at a small school, coming up, through the coaching ranks
(32:30):
in the G League, in the NBA, and so he
has a really unique perspective, I think, an all encompassing perspective.
So I'm excited to hear from him, wealth of knowledge,
income from Durell Christians. So, without further ado, let's toss
it over. Here is our conversation with Durell Christian. All Right,
so we started out this episode with Luke Kornett talking
(32:50):
about how he balanced the bouncing around between the NBA
and the G League from a personal and a player perspective.
Now we're bringing in the business side. We got the
man who's calling all the shots for the Main Celtics,
Drell Christian. Darrell, first and foremost, thank you for joining
us today, for having me. I appreciate it absolutely, And secondly,
we want to hear about the business side. Yeah, how
(33:13):
do you go about making decisions and assessing players who's
going to come in, who's not going to come in
when you know that these guys careers could be on
the line based upon what decision they make. The ultimate
goal is to get right exactly. Yeah, I mean, I
think the first part for me is always trying to
(33:35):
figure out if the players align with the values that
we have as an organization. If their their values don't
align with what we believe in here in Boston, it's
a red flag. I don't even look any further. So
it's a lot of conversations I have with the player
before we bring anybody in, and a lot of conversations
have with their agent just trying to figure out what
their goals are in the long term. You know, a
(33:56):
lot of my conversations with especially guys who have been
in the n before and they're trying to make it back,
my first conversation is always you know, what is your
pathway of getting back to the NBA and how can
we help you? And if their answer doesn't align with
what our head coaches or our coaching staff and Maine
believe that they can add value to the team, then
that conversation stops right there. So my biggest thing is
(34:19):
always trying to figure out how we can get them
back to the NBA and if what they're trying to
accomplish aligns with what we want to do in Maine
as well. So it's a lot of honest communication, a
lot of hard conversations on the front end. So hopefully
when things present themselves throughout the season, we've kind of
already got it under apps. Luke kind of touched on
that that that is a challenge of that league and
(34:40):
that you are playing a team game, but everyone has
individual goals and to get people to be in the
right headspace to be able to align behind one mission.
How much of a challenge is that and how do
you navigate that? It's very challenging, you know, And I
think that's why that that first conversation is so important.
A lot of times those versations are the first conversations
(35:02):
they're having with someone in the Celtics organization, no matter
what level. So you have to be intentional with what
you're communicating and what you're messaging from the jump, and
as long as that those messages are consistent throughout the season,
those guys usually can can navigate it. But you know,
uh Riel Shayak, Denzel Valentine, Luke Cornett, Ryan Archie, Gacknotheo
Pins and all guys that have been in the NBA
(35:24):
for a little bit, and we went through the main
Celtics organization and trying to get back to the NBA,
and my conversations with most of those guys were can
you make your teammates better? And can you impact winning?
Those are the two ways the quickest ways to get
back to the NBA. Um if you think you're gonna
come to the G League and just score forty five
fifty every night, it's probably not going to be your
(35:45):
best avenue to get back. So it's like, can you
impact winning and can you make your teammates better? And
once we all are aligned and on the same page
with that messaging, it's kind of easier from there. So
I'm curious because you have the you were the head
coach of the team last year, so you've got great
experience of knowing how well players buy in and if
they live up to their word, and you know all
these types of things. I'm just curious from your perspective
(36:08):
of what you've seen around the league, not necessarily just
with the Celtics, but how difficult is it to find
guys who are willing to accept that they need they
need to they need to come in and try to
impact winning and impacting winning doesn't always It could be
setting great screens, it could be crashing the glass, it
(36:30):
could be being in the right place defensively. It's not
always about putting up thirty points on fifteen twenty shots. Yeah,
and I you know, one of the first conversations we
had as a team, you know, I talked to our
team and Maine about how the rosters are constructed both
at the NBA level and the G league level. Right,
So in the NBA one through fifteen, one through seventeen,
(36:53):
with the two ways usually ten through fifteen, ten through
seventeen or low minute guys that aren't on the court
in the rotation. So those guys are still being evaluated
although they're not playing in the game. So they're being
evaluated on how professional they are, how responsible they are
when their coaches you know, text them or call them.
Are they showing up one time, are they being a
good teammate? Are they doing the right things on the
(37:14):
bench and in the locker room. That's how they're being evaluated,
on top of their low minute work after before practice.
And so my conversation with the team in Maine was,
we've only got twelve players on the roster, right head
coach could play eight or nine, So ten, eleven and twelve.
That's how you're being evaluated. And it's like, can you
be a star in that role? Can you be a
good teammate? Can you show you your professional And then
(37:36):
when you get your opportunity to be in the rotation,
are you ready and are you prepared for it? And
so it's it's it's funny how those two things are
so very similar, because when you're not in the rotation,
all you want to do is play. All you want
to do is find a way to get into it.
They all right, And so that's why when you see
players talk about it like everybody got to this level
because they have some type of confidence and some type
(37:58):
of chip on their shoulder, right, And so it's those
guys that aren't necessarily in the rotation that are still
coming in and being great teammates and busting their butt
to get on the floor that you have the same
issues in the G League, you know, and those roles
in the G League are can you be a great screener?
Can you get guys open? And then if you can
do that at a high level in a small, small dose,
and maybe the head coaches can give you a little
(38:20):
bit more of an opportunity. But it's like you've got
to be able to be a star in your role,
whatever that may be. You know, your role on the
main Celtics might be a defender and a rebounder and
a corner three shotmaker, you know, and can you do
those things? But if you go to a different team,
your role could change. So I think that's the part
that players have to really figure out what can help
(38:41):
the team win where you are and once you're able
to exceed in that, then I think you give yourself
the best chance. Do you mold those roles in Maine
as if the players were here, Like like if someone
was going to be like Luke yep right, for instance,
great screen set and what is that all he's doing
in Maine? Like to chat yeah exactly? Or like for
a guy that might be a three D type of
(39:02):
guy up here, do you use him as a three
D down there or does that change? Yeah? You know,
so my philosophy and that's kind of changed. Um. I've
been in coaching for thirteen fourteen years, so I've only
been a Gem for half a season, right, So, Um,
the lens that I looked through everything is is being
on the coaching side, understanding the dynamics of a locker room,
(39:24):
understanding the dynamics of how you get a team to
be one connected group. And so to your point with
you know, I was very fortunate, blessed, grateful that Remy
Cofield put together the roster that he did for myself
in Maine last year with Sam Houser and Luke Cornette,
because everything we did in Maine was basically as if
(39:47):
they were going to be here, right, and so it
wasn't going to be Sam, you're gonna come in and
take twenty five three, bring the ball up. We're not
going to be in a ton of pick and roll. Um. Luke,
we're gonna limit some of your your threes. You're gonna
just try to be a guy can connect both sides
of the offense and be a run protector. And the
thing that I would do earlier in my coaching career,
especially in the G League, is whether it be a
(40:09):
two way. We gave those guys a ton of freedom
just to be the best player on that team, and
then when they got an opportunity at the NBA level,
they didn't necessarily know how to play exactly the superstars.
And so that's kind of how my mindset has changed
is bringing on other players that have aspirations are getting
to the NBA, that are on the customer making it.
(40:31):
So then when you have you know, Sam or Luke,
those guys feel confident moving the ball and they can
get guys open that can make shots. And so that's
kind of where my philosophy has kind of shifted over
the last couple of years. But to your point, sam
Our thing with him last year was can you be
a good team defender? Can you not get picked on
one on one in isolation? Can you move your feet
(40:53):
and not file and offensively? Can you just space the
floor keep the ball moving, Because if you're playing with
Jason Tatum or Jylen Brown, you're probably not going to
be in pick and roll. You're probably gonna be spaced
and they're gonna find you. So you have to be
able to play off the ball, and same thing with Lukes.
Can you get other guys open for free shots? And
that's exactly what he's been doing this year. And damnit,
Sam can defend. Everyone keeps trying to hunt him out
(41:15):
this year. I don't know what the numbers are, but
I feel like he's done a great job. Stay in
front of him, you know, he's great. The one thing
that he doesn't get enough credit for he's got great
size and length right, so he can stay. He understands angles,
and he understands where he can send guys depending on
where the help defense is. So he's a very high
IQ guy. That was something we talked about last year
in Maine. So a huge credit to him for continuing
(41:35):
to do it. And to your point, he's he's a
better defender than people give him credit for. Those are
two very specific guys who you know, what role they
are going to play on a specific NBA roster. What
about everyone else? And how do you kind of develop
the player development plans for those guys? Does it? How
much does that align with what the team needs? Yeah,
(41:59):
you know, I think part of the roster construction is
being able to put those other pieces around the guys
that are going to be here, you know. Yeah, so
for Fear or JD, right, can you get h Shayak
or Valentine guys that can come off a pick and
roll and play right, Because if JD's doing his job
(42:20):
and he's getting those guys open shots, they got to
be able to make it. And that's kind of what
they're going to be able to do at the NBA
level as well. You know, Shayok would be a guy
that's going to be a backup guard, second side ball handler,
so him being able to come off a pick and
rolls and not necessarily score but find open guys, right,
And so you get Shayak coming off from second side,
Dho getting to the paint. Now he's kicking out and
(42:41):
now JD is getting a set shot where he would
be getting in the NBA game as well. So a
lot of that is just trying to find pieces that
are similar. Obviously maybe on a lesser level in the
G League, but guys still can be able to do
those things and playmate. How are the systems parallel? Are
you running the exact same offensive and defensive systems in
Maine that the Celtics are running in Boston? Yeah? So
(43:03):
you know last year, we try to be pretty spot
on both offensively and defensively, and a huge credit to
Brad Stevens and the rest of the front office and
Joe Missoula, because those guys do a great job of
keeping the two connected. Right. So Alex Barlow is with
us for training camp, you know, and obviously he's been
a part of the organization long time, a long time,
(43:25):
so he knows the ins and outs. He knows Joe
Missoula and how he thinks, you know, pretty well. So
he's able to articulate everything that we're doing here, both
offensively and defensively, to the group in Maine. And you know,
that's essentially what we would want to get to because
we want to see those guys executing our offensive systems
defensive systems, so that gives us the best chance of
(43:46):
evaluating them for our team. Here in Boston. We've seen
some guys and Denzel is a great example, who have
been in the NBA for like, you know, four or
five years or whatever, and then they wind up in
the G League trying to make their way back. I
am so curious to know, and I know I've spoken
to Denzel about this and he just seems like a
(44:06):
great person who's accepting and really wants to he wants
to take the challenge and try to get back. But
I'm just so curious about how how how often does
that happen where guys are willing to embrace that as
opposed to complaining or you know, I don't know, like
taking a personal or kind of caving on you know,
(44:27):
where their career is at that juncture of being in
the league and experiencing the four star hotels and the
first class travel and then obviously taking a step back
in those instances, it is different stan the commercial flights. Yeah,
it's like Luke said, you got to share a room. Yeah,
it's definitely different obviously, you know, waiting at baggage claim
than you know, flights getting delayed, commercial flights, all that
(44:50):
stuff is a headache um, you know, and guys who
have been in the NBA before, you know, that's part
of what we talk about early on is understanding where
you are. You know, you you have to be where
your feet are. This is where you are. You in
the G league for a reason. Use it right, don't
try to avoid it, don't try to duck it, Like,
embrace where you are. Because understanding that once you get
to where you actually want to get to, you're gonna
(45:10):
look back and be so grateful and thankful that you
had this experience. But why are you going through it?
It's tough. Nobody nobody really you know, someone told me
this one time that nobody ever really wants to be
in the G League. Coaches want to get to the NBA,
players want to get to the NBA. So how can
you make the time that you're in the G League
meaningful and the players feel and the staff feel like
they're getting something out of it? And my number one
(45:31):
answer was always double down on the development. Double down
on the development of the players, double down on the
development of the staff. Make them feel like they're invested
in their own development, but they're also helping one another,
because if you're trying to do it, you know, by yourself,
it's going to be a long, lonely road. So it's
really being able to create an environment where it's inclusive
and everybody feels like they have a say and what's
(45:52):
going on in the grand scope of things. The roster,
though similar to the NBA, and even more so, I
feel like in the G League are fluid in that
guys are. Some guys are getting the call up, some
guys are I don't know, not have Moving on to
a different situation, yeah, I will say, Um, you told
(46:13):
the story recently about being at the showcase in Las
Vegas and you had like eight guys called up. Yeah,
to feel the team on the floor. How do you
navigate that? How challenging is that? And how do you
do that? What do you even do in that situation?
You control what you can control, right, You make lemon
out of you make lemonade out of limits in that regard,
(46:33):
you know. So it's one of those like when you're
a coach in the G League, you you understand that
your best players are probably not going to be with
you for the entirety of the season. At some point
they're going to be, you know, either called up for
a ten day, they're going to be up at their
parent club if they're in two ways. So it's just
you understand that small dynamic of it. The ones that
(46:55):
really hurt are the guys are on the back end
of the roster or the guys that are just rotational
players that want more of an opportunity to play, that
demand a trade or want to get to a different
situation because those pieces are so hard to find, good
rotation players that are willing to play, you know, twelve
(47:16):
to fifteen minutes when you're fully healthy, but then when
those other players aren't there, they're into a starting role
and playing thirty five minutes. So those are the ones
that are always a little bit more tricky um to navigate.
But to your point, like coaches, we always knew that
when you're at full strength and everybody's healthy, you better
win those games because in a week you're probably not
(47:37):
going to have three or four. Yeah, And the other
part is you never really know what your opponent is
going to have on any given day either, you know,
so you don't know your opponent and they don't you know,
you don't. You go over tendencies. You you focus on yourself.
You understand ways that you can get better as a team.
At the end of the day, no matter if it's
(47:58):
one through twelve, when a team, you're gonna want them
to the right ram read. You're gonna want them to
play defense, and you're gonna want them to understand where
their help is and team defense, and so it's like
you double down on what you've been teaching from day
one in training camp. It's so unique because and I
kind of threw this out to Luke that like in
minor league baseball, it's the same as MLB. It's there's
(48:19):
not really like the individual hunting, yeah exactly, and there's
not so many moving pieces. It's just totally different. It
seems so unstable down there, but like somehow these guys
battle through, which leads me to the last thing that
I want to talk to you about. And I think
you've covered a little bit in spurts here during this conversation,
but what is it that's working here like the Boston
(48:41):
Celtics and Main Celtics, there's something of that connection and
the way the system is being run and the culture
is being built that is leading to great results like
every year. I mean, we've got obviously Luke and Sam
are now full time with the Celtics. Awesome, congrats to them.
They've they've done a great job. But we might have
that coming next year with more guys. And we had
(49:04):
Tackle fall here who was here for a couple of years,
who was doing a great job and being a great
locker room guy and then actually made some plays out
on the court for the team at certain times. So
what is it that's working, what's in the water here
in New England that is leading to the success between
the two franchises. Yeah, I mean, I think, first and foremost,
it starts with our scouting department doing a great job
(49:26):
identifying not just talent, but talent with high character that
could potentially grow to be on the Boston Celtics in
some capacity. I think that's the biggest thing in my opinion.
And then obviously with the coaching staffs and even the
staff there in Maine, them understanding long term goals for
(49:48):
not just themselves but for the players and being able
to execute that, you know. And I think those are
all conversations that Brad has with barlow, I have with
Barlow and the rest of the staff. And once everybody's
kind of on the same page understand what the expectations are,
it makes everything just flow smooth. And to Alex Barlowe's credit,
it's his first time being a head coach, you know,
(50:10):
he's been waiting for this opportunity for a while and
now he's got it, you know, and he's got a
really good team and they've been doing a great job
this year. The other part is that we don't necessarily
jeopardize or compromise the wins just to basically we don't
try to just get talent just to get wins. We
want to focus on the development right and in order
(50:33):
to do that, you have to have a certain character
type of player. And so we're never going to compromise that.
We're not going to bring in a low character guy
that can go out and get you fifty. We're going
to probably try to get you the highest character guy
that we can that can fit into the grand scheme
of what we're trying to accomplish her in Boston. And conversely,
you would imagine that those types of people are seeing
(50:54):
that that's what you're building here, and that would make
those types of people that would attract them to want
to be a part of this all. I mean, I'll
go quick story. Tony Snow is another guy that's been
in the NBA for you know, almost nine years, and
so he was just sitting at home working out in Orlando.
His agent reached out to me a couple of weeks
ago and said, hey, do you have any interest in Tony?
And my initial thought was no, not at all. And
(51:19):
so after the conversations continue to grow a little bit
because you didn't want to add that element into the
locker room. Yeah, I mean I just didn't know what
to excause you never really know what to expect. These
guys who have been in the NBA for years usually
can come in and want to be the man, or
they want to come into a starting role, or there
have expectations up I'm going to get X number of shots,
(51:39):
and I just wasn't willing to mess with what we
had going on there to accommodate a player that was
obviously very talented. I wanted to see that group that
we had continue to take the leap forward with their
development and have some continuity with it. And so the
role that we had was basically the ninth spot, the
ninth man, and I was like, I don't think he's
(52:00):
going to be happy with the role that we have
for him. And so my conversations with Tony's I was like,
you know, understanding, this is a ninth ninth man role.
He's probably gonna play fifteen minutes a night. And his
answer to me was, coach, whatever you need me to do,
I'm ready. And when he says that, that gives me
the freedom and Barlow the freedom to coach him as
(52:21):
hard as we need to coach him because our first
conversation you committed to coming off the bench and accepting
a ninth man or fifteen minute role, and so now
things can groom and happen organically after that conversation, and
if you play and start and play thirty five minutes
in the long run like perfect, that's I'm happy for you,
but understanding when you come in here, this is what
it is, yea. And so when you get guys like that, it's,
(52:43):
you know, it makes my job a lot easier, but
it's also why I root for some of those guys
so hard. And credit to you as well, Girell, for
finding those people. But just to be clear about who
you are. You are the Brad Stevens of the main Celtics,
gone from head coach two GM in a year and
clearly have a great handle on everything that's going on.
(53:04):
Thank you. I mean, I've got a lot of great
advice and Brad's always there to you know, lend a
hand or if I have any ideas that I want
to bounce off, and he's always open and honest, and
we've had a great relationship over the last couple of years.
So so I'm thankful for him. Well, we're thankful for
you because, as I said, something is working, something is working,
and it's been great to hear, you know, not only
(53:24):
from Luke but also from you about how what is
leading to this success and what really goes on and
for those players who were telling that line. So Darrell,
appreciate you coming on good luck the rest of the
season and we're looking forward to seeing what the main
Celtics have to have to deliver the rest of the season.
Thank you, I appreciate it. Awesome. Thank you.
Host
Marc D'Amico
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