Picks 'n Pops: Why 4-Nations worked, chasing Larry Bird, & Mr. Burns

Every week I gather some thoughts about the Celtics, the NBA, and beyond and dump them here. Because I submitted five other columns but Jordan Binnington blocked them all.

- A lot of people are pointing to this 4 Nations Face-Off as a blueprint for the NBA to follow with its All-Star weekend, but I don’t think that format will work. 

First of all, we have to remember the NHL tried a straight World vs. North America game and in one of them we got a 14-12 final. Then they went to captains, divisions, and a tournament. They were having the same issue the NBA was having. One score was 17-12. One was 12-9. 

The 4-Nations concept was a massive hit, but let’s be honest about why it was a hit. It’s because of politics and tensions between the US and Canada. Wherever your politics lie, you do have to understand that Canada isn’t too fond of all this annexation talk. Trump and Trudeau are trash-talking one another, anthems are being booed, and there were three fights in 10 seconds in the first game. 

THAT'S why it was a hit. If USA and Canada just played a normal game last weekend, there would have been NO anticipation for this game last night. At least not on the level we saw. 

Secondly, hockey is not an American sport. It’s a world sport played at an incredibly high level across Europe. We’re not that far removed from America being the plucky underdog beating the big, bad Soviet squad, are we? They played the clip from the movie before overtime last night! 

It’s easy to put a team from Sweden and Finland out there in a competitive tournament. They have incredible players. The NBA has some incredible players from around the world, but is it enough to consistently field 12 All-Stars? There were seven international players in this year’s event. 

If Draymond Green is going to complain about young players not earning their place in the game, what will be said about rounding out the international bench with undeserving players while the USA team leaves worthy players off? 

Do not compare the NHL to the NBA. They are different sports with different lineages and different dynamics. Also, be honest about why this tournament worked. 

- What a shame to lose Victor Wembanyama for the rest of the season, but I will loudly join the chorus thankful for finding the blood clot before it became something much more serious. By all accounts, this is not a life or career-threatening situation, so we should see him back next season. 

- Jayson Tatum is climbing up the Celtics All-Time lists, accomplishing things that very few Celtics, and often only one, have done. Tatum has heard his game mentioned with Larry Bird before, and he addressed that last night as well, saying “wearing a Celtics uniform comes with a lot of pride,” and then later adding this: 

“You just realize at a certain point that you might be on a trajectory of, whatever people want to call it, to have a legendary career, all-time great or whatever. And just, you see the impact that he had on the game of basketball, and obviously with the Celtics, winning three championships, three MVPs in a row, which is incredible. You just subtly start to see that we both scored 60 points in the game, you started getting mentioned in ‘the only other Celtic to do this,’ and obviously, once you win a championship, it's like, all right, you can be in those rooms with the Celtics legends. But it doesn't just stop at one. You obviously got to win multiple, and that's what we're trying to do. And I always wanted to be the best, and he's, in my opinion, the best Celtic ever, he did it the right way, and he's a great guy to chase.”

You can say what you want about Tatum, but I don’t think there's ever been a quote to illustrate how much he gets it quite as much as this one. 

We can argue about his style of play sometimes, but I think the deeper into his career we get, the more we see he’s trying to accomplish something huge. I think he understands where he stands and what it would take to join Larry Bird’s club. 

- Bobby Portis’ suspension is a case of pure stupidity, no matter how you slice it. Either he was stupid in taking a banned substance, or he was stupid in taking an unknown pill from someone. 

And wouldn’t you know it, he took that ONE pill from someone, and then suddenly it’s drug test day? Tramadol stays in your system for two days. So Portis had the dumb luck of accidentally taking a banned substance and then getting called in for a drug test within the next couple of days?

I’m not that stupid. 

- Look at this devilish grin on Al Horford’s face when he’s asked about being booed in Philadelphia:

“They care enough to boo. It’s good to be cared for.”

What a line. Horford carries himself as a middle-of-the-road pro, but never forget he’s as competitive as it gets. Al bolted for Philly because the Kyrie Irving mess was imploding the Celtics. He has admitted that his decision might have been different if he knew Irving was leaving. Either way, Philly is the one franchise that didn’t know how to use him, and that's an indictment on them and Joel Embiid. 

Embiid makes everything about him. He never sacrificed anything about his game to accommodate Horford. This is why it didn’t work, and why the Sixers are in the position they're in. 

Maybe they should have hired Nico Harrison instead of Daryl Morey. 

- Stephon Castle, San Antonio’s 20-year-old rookie, was wearing Tatum’s sneakers during All-Star weekend. Tatum, who turns 27 on March 3, is in his eighth year in the NBA, which means Castle was 12 during Tatum’s rookie year.

Tatum was asked about that and said “It's kind of getting to that point where guys who were in middle school, high school, that watched me and kind of watched me in my career, and appreciate the way that I played and things I accomplished … It’s kind of transitioning into that where the rookies and guys who were fans of me are wearing my shoe or excited to compete against me. It’s cool.”

Eight years in the league is a lot. Tatum has accomplished a lot and he’s become one of the faces of the NBA. This new crop of fans turned NBA players hold him in high regard. 

“I envision myself as one of those guys, the LeBrons, the Stephs, the KDs,” Tatum said. “I want the next generation to view me as that.”

- “Dropping the sledgehammer Kornet … and not a lot of people have said that” is one of the most hilarious calls I’ve ever heard. 

- Torrey Craig has the chance to make a difference this season. 

- Why?

Call me old school, but back in my day, we used to hunt things like this down with pitchforks and torches. We’ve gone soft.

- Congrats to the Yankees for finally allowing beards.

The Yankees facial hair policy has long been one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard of in sports, especially for a team that lives in the Bronx. The Bronx has always had more facial hair per capita than any other region in America. Sure, the rise of hipsters in Brooklyn gave them a good challenge, but no one could challenge the Bronx in facial hair … or body hair in general. 

I say, if you can grow it on your back, you should be able to grow it on your face. 

Also, this is a great excuse to share one of my favorite Simpsons bits, Don Mattingly and his sideburns. 

- Here’s a photo of Cole Anthony trying to get Trae Young to finally swallow that pill he keeps spitting out.

- Considering how horrible the All-Star broadcast was and how overwhelmingly happy people are that TNT is no longer a part of it now, I’d say the folks over at NBC are the big winners. Our hopeful gaze turns to them. So for getting a ton of great promotion because TNT sucked SO hard, NBC Sports his having the Best Week Ever!

- This week’s Bing AI-generated image: The Process’ run is over ... and frankly it's been over for a while. 

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