Former Boston Celtics wing and assistant coach Evan Turner is known for his wild stories as much as he is his on-court play and coaching skills. And, for that reason, the hosts of the popular, Celtics team-produced podcast “The View From the Rafters: Behind the Scenes with the Boston Celtics” had ET on the pod to regale listeners with some of those nuggets of Boston lore early on in its existence.
True to his reputation, Turner delivered, with everything from new takes on the truck-in-his-pool story to why Brad Stevens doesn’t exactly deserve the “aw, shucks” rep he gets. But for us, our favorite tale he shared on the pod was the creative way he got teammate Kelly Olynyk to eat crow in a G.O.A.T. debate.
Buy Celtics Tickets“We’re arguing on the bus about the best point guards,” began Turner.
“So, you know Kelly is best friends with David Stockton (fellow Gonzaga alumnus and son of famed point guard John Stockton),” he explains. “So I’m talking about all these top-five point guards of all time.”
“I’m like ‘You’ve got to have J. Kidd, Isiah Thomas’, I’m saying all this. I throw in White Chocolate (Jason Williams), who I love — I used to carry a Jason Williams rookie card in my wallet as a kid. So this is where he got mad. Kelly does this stuff like ‘The best point guard is John Stockton.’ (I said) ‘I totally dig you bro, but Stockton didn’t win championships. Isiah won two with the replacements in a sense. Laimbeer, you know? And he won two championships during the L.A. (Lakers) — (Michael) Jordan era.'”
“We aren’t arguing. If he’s a jerk, go ahead. Do whatever, but we’re not doing it. So Kelly’s like, ‘Well, he had two of the hardest stats, steals, and assists.’ He’s like ‘People may never, ever, ever reach that level.'”
This is every player in Celtics history who was the only player to wear their jersey number. https://t.co/2JbGGjKPkA
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 22, 2023
“So we’re arguing about that, and I kid you not, I get off on the wrong elevator (at the hotel they were staying at), I don’t have a key or something weird where I call the hotel at the lobby, and I feel somebody come up behind me and grab me,” Turner continues.
“I turn around — who is it? It’s Isiah Thomas — the original … we’re in Atlanta, we’re playing the Hawks on national TV. That night I guess Isiah is in the studio (to call the game).”
“So when he grabs me — people don’t know Isiah Thomas and I went to the same high school — so when he grabs me I’m not like ‘Oh, my god, Isiah!;’ I’m like ‘You need to come with me right now.'”
Wallace found out about the arrest while on vacation with friends in the Mediterranean. https://t.co/nqv0F6rDEZ
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 22, 2023
“I’m like, ‘You’ve got five minutes?’ and he’s like ‘Yeah;’ I said, ‘You want to hear this,’ said Turner.
“So mind you, I had been arguing with Kelly at 12:32, this happened at 12:36, maybe. I text everybody ‘Come to floor whatever, come in this room right now. Everybody that was in the conversation comes down. Isiah comes down. I think I actually took the dude to Kelly’s room. I take Isiah Thomas to go knock on Kelly’s door. When Kelly opens the door, I’m like ‘say all that shit to his face right now.’ Isiah Thomas is like, ‘Kelly, how can you even say such, I hired your mom in Toronto!”
“It was just hilarious,” he finished.
The Human Highlight Film also had some words on watching James Harden snap his record. https://t.co/0QGK0fpzpX
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 21, 2023
Make sure you check out the whole pod in its entirety — it’s brimming with these kinds of tales.
ET phoning home to return to the Celtics as an assistant has certainly had some fringe benefits, and we all get to benefit from this one.
We took a look at the top dunkers in Boston Celtics history. Who made the cut? https://t.co/aX9PrzZqeo
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) September 21, 2023
Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ
