By CHAD COOPER
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Sports are the greatest reality show money can buy.
During my 44 years, I have been loyal to one team in each of the three major sports, both professionally and collegiately. I’ve had heroes I admired, rivals I loved to hate and villains who always seemed to stand in the way of another championship.
This past week, one of my favorite sports figures became the villain.
With one trade, Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens may have slammed the door on another championship banner hanging inside TD Garden for years to come.
Stevens traded Jaylen Brown — an NBA MVP candidate, perennial All-Star and proven championship-caliber player alongside franchise cornerstone Jayson Tatum — not to a team in the Western Conference, but to the rival Philadelphia 76ers, instantly making them one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference.
Let’s break it down.
Boston sent Brown, who finished sixth in NBA MVP voting last season while carrying the Celtics during Tatum’s recovery from a torn ACL, to Philadelphia in exchange for Paul George, two first-round draft picks including an unprotected 2031 first-round pick, a 2028 first-round pick swap and two second-round selections.
On paper, that may sound like a haul.
To me, it isn’t.
Philadelphia now pairs Brown with one of the league’s elite young guards in Tyrese Maxey, former MVP Joel Embiid — when healthy, still one of the NBA’s most dominant forces — and rising star VJ Edgecombe, one of last season’s top rookies. The 76ers also added Dean Wade and Anfernee Simons, giving them even more perimeter shooting, and rumors continue to swirl that LeBron James could join the roster after reportedly informing the Los Angeles Lakers he will not return.
Meanwhile, Boston receives a 36-year-old Paul George.
When healthy, George can still score, defend multiple positions and stretch the floor. There’s no questioning his talent.
The problem is staying healthy.
Over the last several years, injuries have become a recurring theme in George’s career, and at this stage he simply isn’t the player Brown is.
The draft compensation doesn’t move the needle for me, either.
If Philadelphia becomes the contender many expect, those first-round picks will likely come near the end of the draft. The pick swap could actually work against Boston, and second-round picks rarely become franchise-changing players.
Reports also indicated Boston explored a deal for Giannis Antetokounmpo. That is a move I could have understood because it would have kept the Celtics firmly in championship contention. Rumors suggested the deal fell apart because Stevens was unwilling to include young rotational players Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez along with Brown.
If that’s true, I struggle to understand the logic.
Tatum is only 26 years old and remains one of the league’s best players, but this trade feels like it pushes Boston at least two or three years away from seriously contending again. That’s assuming another superstar even wants to come to Beantown, something that hasn’t always been easy for the Celtics.
Stevens deserves plenty of credit for building a championship roster after selecting Brown and Tatum with back-to-back No. 3 overall picks. Tatum alone keeps Boston competitive, and Derrick White has resurrected his career in green while Payton Pritchard continues to develop into one of the league’s best reserve guards.
But the supporting cast has changed dramatically.
Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis, key contributors to Boston’s 2024 NBA championship, are now with Golden State. Nikola Vucevic, acquired midway through last season, is gone. That leaves Neemias Queta, Luka Garza and newly signed Mitchell Robinson to anchor the frontcourt.
Back to Stevens.
I’ve admired him since his remarkable run at Butler, where he nearly knocked off my Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA championship game. Years later, I had the opportunity to attend a coaching clinic in Myrtle Beach where Stevens shared the stage with Bobby Knight and Jim Boeheim. Then he became Boston’s head coach before moving into the front office.
He was someone I respected professionally.
Maybe that’s why this trade stings so much.
It reminds us that even the brightest basketball minds can make decisions that leave an entire fan base scratching its head.
I’ve survived the post-Larry Bird years before, so I’ll survive this one too.
Changing gears, few sporting traditions are as American as the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest held every Fourth of July on Coney Island in New York.
The greatest competitive eater of all time, Joey Chestnut, reclaimed his throne by winning his record 18th Mustard Belt after devouring 66 hot dogs. On the women’s side, Miki Sudo captured another title by consuming 38.75 hot dogs.
Finally, I want to give a huge shoutout to the Knox Creek Volunteer Fire Department, Russell Prater Fire & Rescue, the Grundy Volunteer Fire Department and the Town of Grundy for hosting outstanding Fourth of July celebrations across Buchanan County this past week.
The fireworks were spectacular, the crowds were tremendous, and the events were another reminder of what makes our communities special.
Happy 250th birthday, America.
