's talent,
's bulk amaze Celtics teammate
By Chris Forsberg July 10, 2020 10:12 AM
Celtics big man
has a propensity to talk up his teammates, but as Boston prepares for its first practice inside the Disney bubble on Friday, Kanter offered a particularly glowing report of what he’s seen from Boston’s core rotation players in voluntary workouts, especially
.
"The one who amazed me the most is probably
,” Kanter said Thursday while taping an episode of “The
Show” podcast from his hotel room in Orlando. “[Brown] literally came in — his arms, his upper body, he’s like doubled. He was an extra large and now he was like a double XL.
"This dude, I’m like, ‘What did you do?’ I think all the boxing with his grandfather [during quarantine workouts] got him right. He looks really strong to me.”
Brown’s 78-year-old grandfather, Willie Brown, a Vietnam vet, guided Brown through boxing-heavy workouts while the NBA season was paused. Those sessions might have helped Brown add bulk, which would come in handy given that he’s routinely tasked with defending power forwards and stretch bigs.
But Brown wasn’t the only one earning Kanter's praise.
"Jayson Tatum, you walk in the gym, this dude is not missing. He did not lose his touch. I’m like, ‘This is talent.’ Rob Williams looks really good. He’s dunking everything. [Daniel] Theis finally got his six-pack. He actually looks in really good shape. Theis was dunking everything and making 3s — the Theis that we know.
“Kemba [Walker] lost weight and he actually looked leaner. I actually asked him, ‘Did you get taller?’ He was like, ‘No, I’m just leaner. I’m just in good shape.’ … Gordon looked really good, looked really really good. They’re all ready to go.”
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A leaner Walker could alleviate some of the knee discomfort the All-Star point guard experienced before the season paused.
Kanter is eager to see what a full-strength Celtics squad can accomplish given how rare it was for the team to have all of its core players healthy and playing to their abilities before the season was interrupted.
Kanter noted how the Larry O’Brien Trophy from Boston’s 2008 title win was at the Auerbach Center earlier this week and he’s eager to help deliver another shiny golden prize. He’s confident Boston has the talent and focus to compete for this year’s crown, especially given the unique bubble conditions.
“All the players showed up; none of the Celtics players stayed home,” said Kanter. “We’re here to compete, here to have fun, and try to win a championship.
"Hey, I promise the Celtics fans, man, the 18th banner is coming soon. We better win because I know how crazy the Celtics fans are. We better get that.”
Celtics'
deactivates his Instagram, ready to maximize NBA bubble experience
By Chris Forsberg July 10, 2020 6:01 PM
Boston Celtics forward
said he deactivated his Instagram account this week in order to enhance his focus while he develops a new routine inside the NBA bubble.
"It was an interesting experience [entering the bubble],” said Brown. "I’m not going to do too much complaining, or do any complaining at all, to be honest. I come from humble beginnings just like everybody else. It’s not exactly what we’re accustomed to, but it’s fine.
"For me, I’m just trying to find a routine to just pass the time. I’m not trying to be on social media. I deactivated my Instagram account, not because I feel like it is a distraction. But until I get a routine, I want to not pick up bad habits and things like that.”
Brown said he wants to maximize what he’s able to do inside the bubble, particularly beyond the basketball court.
"I feel like we’re down here with a purpose,” said Brown. "I want to educate myself. Spend time doing research, spend time talking to my teammates or other people in the NBA trying to figure out how we can all come together and use our time to divert our attention to things outside of basketball. While we’re down here, we got nothing but time. So I’m trying to make myself available to any players that are around and might have questions or anything they want to build off of, and also my teammates as well. So we can figure out ways to put our heads together and be a part of change.”
Celtics players have spent the past two days quarantined in their hotel rooms while waiting to be cleared to begin full-team practices. They got on the floor Friday afternoon inside a Disney convention center equipped with two full-sized courts and a weight room.
Brown compared Friday’s session to the first day of training camp and said the Celtics "had a lot of guys with a lot of great energy, a lot of the young guys had a lot of high energy, so I think we’re ready.”
Added Brown: "We’re looking forward to getting things started, getting things going. Like I said, we’re on a mission, all of us here. We understand we don’t want to do too much complaining about other stuff. We want to focus on what we can control and divert most of our energy to while we’re here. Being on this team has been great. I think we’re all excited as to what the future entails.”
