Celtics Lab NBA Basketball Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Scouting the tourney for second round gems with HoopsHype's Bryan Kalbrosky Mar 22, 2022

Show notes

While most people are starting to focus on the 2022 NBA Playoff picture starting to come into focus in recent days, a certain subset of NBA draft fanatics are already looking past that to the next big news item on the Boston Celtics' teambuilding agenda -- the 2022 NBA draft.

And though the Celtics will not be anywhere near the letter or even the first round of the draft without making some fairly substantial trades to pick up draft assets for this year's big event, they do have a second-round draft pick that could be used to pick up a steal in what is seen as a fairly deep if not especially talented draft class.

There won't be any "plug and play" prospects in the latter third of the round where Boston is likely to be selecting, but Boston could find talent able to move the ball and shoot at potential future positions of need with the right eye to find it.

And to that end, we brought on For The Win and Hoops Hype NBA draft expert Bryan Kalbrosky to talk about what value can be squeezed out of such a late pick, as well as if they happen to still be in the NCAA Tournament for Celtics fans to get a look at in the coming week.

Check out this pod with hosts Cameron Tabatabaie and Justin Quinn as we talk all things big dance, draft and even get into the Great Batman Debate among other recent Boston news nuggets.

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Predicting the seeding for the Celtics, Eastern Conference ahead of the 2022 NBA Playoffs Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

It won't be long now until the remaining games for the Boston Celtics of the 2021-22 NBA regular season can be counted with single-digit numbers, and with the 2022 postseason nearly upon us, we can start to get a picture of how the Eastern Conference standings might look when the dust settles on the season.

With so much parity in the East among playoff teams, seeding could be as important as it has been in many years for postseason success, with the play-in tournament looking like it may well have an epic showdown brewing with a legitimate contender likely to end up in it, and the range in which the Celtics are likely to fall anywhere from favorable to fraught depending on which East foe they end up drawing.

To that end, on this week's episode of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast, hosts Justin Quinn and Cameron Tabatabaie try to suss out where they think each team will end up using strength of schedule, health, and desirable matchups.

They also get into how the team has been playing of late, a last look at the (we hope) end of the feud between Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, and everything else newsworthy for Boston between now and the last game of the regular season.

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On the 2021-22 Celtics and patience, rooting for Jerry Buss and more with Gary Gulman Mar 16, 2022

Show notes

Followers of the Boston Celtics who happen to also be fans of standup comedy are for the most part aware of popular comedian Gary Gulman's love for the team he grew up watching as a native of Peabody, Massachusetts. And Gulman is also a fan of dropping in on Celtics-oriented podcasts while rightly advocating for patience with this up-and-coming roster.

So the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with Gulman to talk about his prescient analysis of the 2021-22 Boston roster in our most recent episode, touching on everything from how he played the sport along with football in high school (and the latter in college at Boston University) to his outstanding standup and advocacy for mental health.

We even get into the new HBO series "Winning Time" and his inside view of the series as it was developed via his own ties to the cast producing the Los Angeles Lakers-centric docu-series given its unignorable ties to the Celtics in the 1980s.

Join Cameron Tabatabaie, Alex Goldberg, and Justin Quinn for a fascinating talk about Boston sports now and past with one of our favorite comedians in this special edition of the Lab.

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On playing with Kevin Garnett, Celtics in the post-Banner 17 era with JR Giddens Mar 13, 2022

Show notes

The man of the hour this Sunday afternoon will see his No. 5 jersey heading up to Boston Celtics basketball Valhalla to hang amongst the rafters, The Big Ticket's big day finally arriving after the Celtics play the Dallas Mavericks on March 13.

And with that caliber event that will see Hall of Fame Boston big man Kevin Garnett be immortalized forever in Celtics lore, we had to record a special edition of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast with a teammate of his from the two seasons following the winning of Banner 17. That teammate would be Boston alum JR Giddens, who took some time to regale us with some stories of what it was like to play with a living legend.

Giddens also gives us an insight into how it was fighting for playing time on a team with designs on deep postseason runs and a coach notorious for not playing younger players -- as well as what advice he'd give current Celtics dealing with not so different issues themselves.

We even get into the University of New Mexico product's current coaching career and his time playing overseas, so be sure to check out this special edition of the pod in honor of KG's big event.

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Jersey retirements, KG and Celtics history with Twitter's sports historian Honest Larry Mar 11, 2022

Show notes

This Sunday, the Boston Celtics will retire the jersey number of one of the greatest big men to play for the team, Kevin Garnett. Steeped in organizational history as well as the glory of Banner 17, the event -- scheduled after the Celtics' Sunday afternoon matchup with the Dallas Mavericks -- will also incorporate elements of the NBA's 75th-anniversary celebrations.

With such a historical moment about to unfold for Boston fans, we hosts of the CLNS Media podcast "Celtics Lab" felt it only just to bring on an expert in such things, the Twitter historian for the Celtics, known for his online curation of all things Boston sports and particularly the team that now strives for Banner 18 under head coach Ime Udoka.

That would of course be Honest Larry, who is a must-follow on Twitter if you are not already -- and like the hosts of the pod, an educator by trade.

Cameron Tabatabaie, Alex Goldberg and Justin Quinn talk the history of Celtics jersey retirements, Garnett's time in Boston, and how the game has changed over the decades among many similar topics.

Whether you're already an Honest Larry supporter or not, if you love Celtics history, Kevin Garnett, and everything in between, this is the episode for you.

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Sussing out the facts of where the Celtics are in the East order with Justin Goodrum and Matt Thomas Mar 03, 2022

Show notes

With the 2022 NBA trade deadline now well behind the Boston Celtics, we have a pretty good idea of what this team is capable of after consolidating talent on the roster to bring back old friend Daniel Theis and trade for their ball-moving defensive specialist Derrick White.

But the rest of the league's Eastern Conference did not stand still at the trade deadline for the most part, meaning the landscape of the Celtics' primary arena of competition changed as well -- what should we expect from the other teams Boston will be up against in the 2022 NBA Playoffs and beyond?

To answer those questions in a (hopefully) engaging way, the CLNS Media podcast "Celtics Lab" brought on friends of the pod and hosts of the Off The Glass podcast "Hoopsology" to make use their focus on the entire league in figuring out what is true and false about Boston's place in a revamped East.

Justin Goodrum and Matt Thomas join your usual hosts Alex Goldberg, Cameron Tabatabaie, and Justin Quinn to assess the Eastern order of the NBA -- if you want an objective view on where the Celtics stack up in it, be sure to catch this episode.

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Talking about Boston's contender status, KG's jersey retirement and more with Jason Terry Feb 26, 2022

Show notes

As the Boston Celtics inch towards contender status with improved play on both ends of the court at the same time the Brooklyn Nets are trying to find enough health to compete for a title, the two teams could very well be on a postseason collision course.

One that began almost a decade ago when a fateful trade sent Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Jason Terry to Brooklyn, and, given that it is just weeks before Garnett will have his Celtics jersey raised up to the rafters, we couldn’t think of a better person to talk about it with on the CLNS Media “Celtics Lab” podcast than the JET himself.

In this episode, Cameron Tabatabaie and Justin Quinn are joined by Terry to talk about his time in Boston in their last era of contention, what it was like playing with KG, how he thinks of the Celtics and Nets’ short and medium-term futures, what’s keeping him busy these days and plenty more.

This was a very fun pod that even has a Big Ticket in a helicopter story, so be sure to check it out.

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Digging into the new-look Celtics and the trade deadline aftermath with Anna Horford Feb 23, 2022

Show notes

The 2022 NBA trade deadline has come and gone, and with it and the time needed for their young roster and new coach to gel, the Boston Celtics are a very different team.

A league-leading defense and a humming offense finally have the Celtics looking like the team many hoped they'd become, with this iteration of the team looking like it's going to make some noise in the postseason. And while there's plenty to be happy about, it's worth remembering that as much as the NBA is a business, much of the work that takes place at the deadline isn't so easy on players and their families.

To strike a balance between the two poles, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast got together with friend of the pod Anna Horford to talk about what the deadline was like for her brother Al and her family, the team's new look and both sides of the coin regarding what went into it.

Justin Quinn, Alex Goldberg, and Cam Tabatabaie also talk about everything from Deuce Tatum's budding stardom to whether Al will be dancing at Anna's wedding coming up soon, so be sure to tune in to hear it all.

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Buyouts, free agents, and other ways to juice the Boston Celtics' roster even more Feb 18, 2022

Show notes

The Boston Celtics by all accounts had themselves a very productive 2022 NBA trade deadline, adding top-flight rotation talent bordering on starting level without paying an exceptionally high price to get the deals done while also consolidating contracts to clear playing time for their younger prospects as well.

No easy task, the Celtics now face the next step of their journey back to contention -- adding more talent around the margins as they seek to bolster the defensive firewall that is their primary identity while also boosting the team's offensive capabilities with the best buyout and free agent targets available.

Who is there to work with? What are they up to now, how can they help, and what are the odds Boston can land them?

On this episode of the CLNS Media podcast "Celtics Lab", hosts Justin Quinn and Cameron Tabatabaie get into the end game for teambuilding for the 2021-22 season as we approach All-Star Week and the stretch run after.

Alex Goldberg has the week off along with most of the Celtics' roster but will be back in the saddle again soon.

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Taking stock of the Celtics, Eastern Conference after a VERY busy trade deadline with Yossi Gozlan Feb 11, 2022

Show notes

While more than a few fans and analysts suspected that the Boston Celtics were set to perhaps at most make a small move to duck under the tax, the team instead re-shaped its roster about as much as is possible without moving core players in a blockbuster deal.

Now, after starting the day with 17 players (counting two ways), the team finds itself with five (yes, five) open roster spots, Derrick White from the San Antonio Spurs, Daniel Theis returning from the Houston Rockets and perhaps the most intimidating defenses assembled in recent NBA history to play with for the rest of the season.

What do these moves mean for the Celtics in the long and short terms? What can we expect to see as far as an on-court product? And where do the Celtics stand in comparison to the rest of the East after a flurry of moves around the league radically transformed the NBA landscape as we knew it?

The hosts of the CLNS Media podcast "Celtics Lab" are back with a special post-trade deadline edition with friend of the pod Yossi Gozlan, cap expert for our sister site HoopsHype.

Check out the clip embedded above to get your bearings on the aftermath a a VERY busy trade deadline not only for Boston, but the NBA writ large.

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