Basketball is back! The NBA has laid out an extensive plan that includes players and coaches heading to Orlando, Florida, to continue the 2019-20 season.
For 10 Questions With NBC10 Boston, Brian Scalabrine talked about about basketball's return, his favorite memory with '08 Celtics teammate Kevin Garnett and his NBA Finals prediction.
Here are a few of the questions he answered:
This transcript has been lightly edited. Watch the full interview above.
NBC10 Boston: What have you been up to during quarantine?
Brian Scalabrine: Whatever the rules are, of life, I'm going to find a way to thrive in those rules, it's just a matter of me figuring it out. I decided to build a chicken coop, a shed, a barn ... I just went on YouTube and I just figured out how to do everything.
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Your teammate Kevin Garnett (KG) will be enshrined into the NBA Hall of Fame soon. What is your favorite memory with him?
In Phoenix, me and KG were sitting on a wall looking at the entrance to a hotel. And it's so funny because he is like really dialed in to everybody on his team. So a car pulled up, let's say a Honda Accord, right? And then, like, two girls get out the car, right? He would say, "Oh that's Big Baby [Glen Davis] for sure." Then it'll be like two Escalades that pull up, and he'd be like, "Paul Pierce."
He was calling every single one. ... Which is a good example of, he just has a great pulse on his team. KG's team is his family. He looks at everything like his family ... He knew his team, he knew his coaches, he knew everything about the organization. Sitting on the wall and him nailing off those names was a good example of that.
Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Enes Kanter are a few of the Celtics that have protested in light of the death of George Floyd. Activism looked different in your era, how do you see that change in the NBA?
It's different now. I think it's almost like required, to be honest with you...
I fully understand, like, it's a different generation and I'm glad people are standing up for what people believe in. I have kids. The only thing I care about is my kids and what they do is have passion in their life, whether it's for school, sports, whatever, have passion in what you do. I can't be a hypocrite and want my kids to have passion and then turn around see Jaylen Brown do that. He's clearly passionate about the stuff that he's doing.
The NBA is supposed to be back within the next two weeks, but Florida has seen a surge to over 9,000 daily cases, and we recently learned 16 players tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday. Do you think the NBA is actually gonna come back?
This thing ain't going anywhere. And we all have to think about how to operate our lives or whatever, so the NBA is like trying to create a bubble ... My guess is they'll start, they'll stop and they'll come up with a reason. Everyone is saying money talks, right?
The NBA was given an additional transaction window to waive and sign players ahead of the league's restart in Orlando. Jamal Crawford is a name that continues to come up, why hasn't be been picked up yet?
I think, organizations are looking at it like research and development, we're going to invest in a young guy. If he pans out, we're golden. I will say, in this environment, no one's looking to invest in a young guy that's gonna pan out. Jamal Crawford can produce results and it would be really interesting if he were picked up for the bubble. I would think that he would picked up for the bubble because it's not a research and development project.
How far do you think the Celtics can go this year?
I think that they can get to the Finals, but it's not gonna be easy to beat Philadelphia with [Joel] Embiid healthy. [Ben] Simmons just can't play on the road. He gets overwhelmed by the people. No Kardashians messing him up. There's a lot of good things for Philly. I look at it like it's a tough, tough road so because of that I do think Milwaukee will get to the Finals, just because they got cupcake games round one and round two. Then all of a sudden they're playing Philly, Toronto or Boston, whoever it gets out of this dog fight.
How big of a deal do you think it is to not have that fan atmosphere during playoff games?
I think it's big for the Celtics because the [TD] Garden is a tough place to win. How many points has that given [them]? I don't think it's gonna be they're gonna play bad, I just think the Garden makes it tougher for other people … It takes an incredible individual to go on the road and not be bothered by anything. That's not easy to do … I just think that threw it all out because everyone's on a neutral site
Who do you think will win the NBA Championship this year?
I think it's going to be the Clippers but that's assuming that no one gets the coronavirus ... If everything was NBA normal I would pick the Clippers to win it all. They're so good defensively, so good on the defensive end. They can beat the Lakers. They have bodies to throw at them and Kawhi Leonard is so poised ... If the coronvirus does not effect the outcome of the NBA I would pick the Clippers.
