Picks 'n Pops: Giving back, retirement, and Emperor Palpatine

Every week I gather some thoughts about the Celtics, the NBA, and beyond and dump them here. Because it's a great excuse to stay in the air conditioning for a little while longer.

- Jaylen Brown’s new Boston XChange program will be a difference maker for Boston’s minority community. According to the Globe, participants in the fields of design, arts, media, entertainment, fashion, and culinary arts will get up to $250,000 in grants and resources. 

His goal is to give equal opportunity to those who typically have less chance to succeed while focusing on fields typical incubators ignore. Ultimately, he hopes to close the wealth gap in Boston, which will only benefit the city as a whole. 

This is literally putting his money where his mouth is, and it shows that when all is said and done, Brown will not be defined simply as a basketball player. I think he deserves recognition for making Boston a better place.  

- Gordon Hayward retired this week. His injury was one of the worst I’ve ever seen and it derailed what was going to be a special run in Boston. I really feel like he was going to be part of a championship and at least a few All-NBA teams. 

I’m not sure people remember exactly how good he was in Utah. He was going to be a major player in the East. That injury ruined his career and it pushed Boston’s 18th championship out many years. The Celtics might have been up to Banner 19 or 20 by now. 

Hayward still had a nice career and has made enough money to pick whatever path he wants next. Good luck, Gordon. 

- Hayward’s retirement means Paul George is now the only active player remaining from the 2010 draft class. 

- Steve Kerr admitted Joel Embiid plays too slow when he said of South Sudan, “this is the fastest team in the tournament we’re going to play” to justify Embiid’s benching. Embiid’s inclusion on the team hasn’t worked and it’s clear that they're better with more athletic, mobile centers who not only protect the rim, but make decisive moves on offense instead of looking for refs to buy a flop.

That said, Kerr needs to be better with his rotations. There's room for everybody. Everyone is sacrificing something to be there, so that should be rewarded. 

- Jayson Tatum on his DNP: “You win a championship, new contract, NBA 2K25 cover, Sports Illustrated … so after all that, it’s definitely a humbling experience.” 

Cut to Joe Mazzulla, in full Emperor Palpatine attire:

- One thing I love about the Olympics is that winning any medal matters to these athletes. Obviously, there are the favorites who expect to win gold and will be disappointed, but I also watched US archer Casey Kaufhold break down after winning bronze in mixed archery. It’s such a nice departure from the “if you’re not first, you’re last” mentality. 

- That said, Katie Ledecky is the Michael Jordan of women’s swimming. That's probably because he transferred his powers of awesomeness to Ledecky as a toddler. 

- I’d buy some South Sudan merch if they had any. 

- Simone Biles is the oldest women’s gymnastics champion since 1952. She’s 27. 

- Sabrina Ionescu was going to dribble out the clock against Belgium but was reminded that point differential matters at the Olympics so she casually hit a 35-footer. 

Look at the disappointment on the Belgian side.

- Former NBA player Chase Budinger is competing in Olympic beach volleyball. It’s pretty incredible for someone to reach these heights in two sports. It’s not Bo Jackson, but it’s also not something you see every day.

- I’d rather watch Jaylen Brown dominate Olympic 3x3 basketball. It’s too bad players need to accumulate points through tournaments to qualify for 3x3 basketball and that those tournaments happen during the NBA season. 

- The Boston Celtics read the arrival of the second apron perfectly, made tough decisions to assemble a team ahead of its biggest impact, and locked everyone up for a three- or four-year run at the top of the NBA. This team is the product of a great front office and ownership that understood spending now will pay off. 

The Chicago Bulls are the exact opposite, completely missing the impact of the second apron, alienating players along the way, and getting stuck with the one player, Zach LaVine, that contributes the least to winning. The only way to move LaVine now is into a team’s cap space and paying that team a first-round pick to get it done. 

This is different from the LA Clippers, who understood the impact of the second apron but freaked out about it instead of paying Paul George. The weird part is their owner is the richest one AND they are opening a new building. I’ll never understand why they went in this direction while keeping James Harden. 

- I can’t believe Tyus Jones only got $3.3 million in free agency. He’s a major score for Phoenix. 

- Former ESPN president John Skipper speculates that TNT’s lawsuit over NBA broadcasting rights might be a play to get them out of the final year of their contract. That could mean we’ve already seen the last of the NBA on TNT. 

- Charles Barkley makes more in two years of TNT broadcasting than he did over his entire NBA career.

- I’ll always share a good Simpsons meme 

- The Patriots might want to look into signing Ilona Maher.

- Here’s this week’s Bing AI-generated image: picking the next DNP-CD on Team USA: 

- Here’s my latest podcast, if you’re bored.