ESPN's All Access Day Surrounding The Boston Celtics Delivered Some Grade A Celtics Porn

Michael Reaves. Getty Images.

If you turned on ESPN today, you probably noticed they've basically dedicated the entire day to the Boston Celtics ahead of their game tonight against the Cavs. This isn't new, as they did an All Access day with the Memphis Grizzlies last year, and given that up until last night the Celts had the best record in the NBA, they are the title favorite, and play in a big market, it's not a surprise they were chosen this year.

Normally, I would prefer ESPN never mention my favorite basketball team. Frankly, I hate when they do. I don't need ESPN's talking heads who I am certain do not really watch this team play tell me the Celtics are good. A younger me craved the national validation, but in my older years, I could not care less. This is a network where one day I'm being told the Celtics need to split Tatum and Brown and then a few weeks later those same people talk about how they are the best duo in the NBA. It's exhausting. 

At the same time, if you've been reading along these last 8 years, you know that I am a sucker for some good ol' fashioned Celtics porn. It's my weakness. So if ESPN was going to dedicate an entire day to my favorite team, they needed to come through with the goods.

I'm happy to report that is exactly what they did.

Let's start with the Jayson Tatum sitdown

Well, that was an extremely enjoyable play breakdown. I could listen to Doris Burke and Jayson Tatum talk basketball and break down plays until my last breath. I love whenever a player does sitdowns like these because I find it fascinating to learn about how these guys see the game in real time. We can have our own ideas while watching, but it's cool to see them broken down by the guys who actually do it.

I'd be lying if I said I also didn't enjoy the high praise Tatum gave Smart. You'll never believe this, but Twitter trolls and sports talk radio trolls are once again proven wrong about just how important Smart is. The franchise guy called him his favorite guy to play with. Brad tells the world how much he loves and trusts every year. Yet still, in the year 2023 there are some out there that refuse to accept these facts. It makes me smile how angry it must make those people hearing Tatum talk like that.

Speaking of Smart, he ahad his own moment. You see, like many Miami Heat players, Bam Adebayo loves to cry. Last year it was Max Strus crying about how he didn't step out of bounds despite actually stepping out of bounds. With Bam, he cries about DPOY. Last year, this year, it's all the same. So while in an interview with Taylor Rooks, he had this to say about Smart's DPOY

Ah yes, the claim that Marcus Smart doesn't guard 5s. If only there was a way to show how silly of a lie this is……

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Naturally, they asked Smart about that claim, and I thought he had a great response

The chuckle was great. The bringing up the block, the second I heard Bam say that I knew he didn't even really believe it. I would argue Smart spends just as much time switching and guarding 5s as Bam does guarding 1s. But really this plays to a bigger point for me. 

I cannot get enough of how mad this

makes people. Anti-Smart trolls get themselves all worked up about it. Bucks fans are still in my mentions to this day crying about Smarts DPOY. Listen, I'm sorry your favorite player didn't win it. May I suggest they be better on defense? Usually that's how you get the nod as the DPOY. Be the best defender. If you don't like that Smart won, I'm sorry. Your tears are delicious though, I will say that.

I will say this though. You can't have an entire day dedicated to you and how awesome you are and then come out tonight and lay an egg at home against a good Cavs team that has already beaten the Celts twice. Coming off a gross loss to the Knicks in their last game where they couldn't buy a bucket to save their lives to the point where it was their worst three point shooting performance of the season, a bounce back win tonight is very important. With the Bucks streaking and not looking like they're slowing down any time soon, the Celts need to keep pace and stack Ws.