While Walker’s struggles might have made him seem like a disappointment relative to his role and salary, he was still good last season. He is well-liked, known for his geniality and positivity. According to multiple team sources, there was some dysfunction in the locker room, with the relationship between Stevens and Walker characterized as tension-filled. Sources also suggest that Stevens was also perceived to be harder on Walker than on other top players.
This came in the wake of Gordon Hayward’s departure, after which sources said Hayward told Stevens he needed to establish a stronger voice with players if they were going to win.
Several team sources felt Stevens was more aggressive with certain players this season, which included Walker who was criticized for his defensive mistakes. Those sources said Walker and Stevens began to butt heads, though the pair were considered to have a productive working relationship and mutual respect for one another.
Walker maintained his professionalism throughout the season but his health issues, the team’s poor performance and boos from TD Garden fans — something that particularly “pissed him off,” according to multiple sources — but he had soured on his situation in Boston and had spoken privately about being willing to move to a new team. It had become clear he was not going to be in the team’s long-term plans.
The question now is how these moves will impact Boston’s franchise players. Jayson Tatum has already seen close friend Javonte Green move to Chicago at the deadline, and now loses another locker room friend in Walker. Horford’s arrival opens the door for the team to possibly move on from Tristan Thompson, another close teammate for Tatum.
It raises another question of what this means for Marcus Smart, currently the team’s starting point guard. He and Horford built a culture of defensive accountability that held up in 2020 before falling apart in 2021. Team sources suggest Smart was alone in trying to establish that accountability last season, with teammates often tuning him out. It reached a boiling point when he and Jaylen Brown were involved in a heated confrontation after Game 2 of the 2020 Eastern Conference finals as reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Smart has long been a favorite of both Stevens and predecessor Danny Ainge, even as Ainge was reportedly exploring trades for Smart. Despite the continuity in leadership, several team sources suggest the Celtics’ culture of competition is eroding — with more than one source pointing to the players’ perceived indifference toward Kyrie Irving stomping on the Celtics logo after the final home game of the season as a red flag they did not exhibit the same sense of pride in the organization that has been the Celtics’ calling card in years past.
According to a source, Brooklyn’s Blake Griffin asked a Celtics player if he should join the team midseason and was told not to come to Boston because of the apparent dysfunction.
https://theathletic.com/2660873/2021/06/19/an-inside-look-at-the-factors-that-led-to-the-inevitable-break-up-between-kemba-walker-and-the-celtics/?source=user_shared_articleAt season’s end, multiple sources close to the players said several members of the locker room were welcoming a coaching change, noting Stevens did not appear to hold key players accountable, with complaints he was favoring Smart over others. The common refrain was that the team should hire a person of color with NBA playing experience to coach, something Stevens seems to be addressing with Chauncey Billups, Ime Udoka and Darvin Ham getting second interviews, as first reported by ESPN.