Jay King

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Shakeia Taylor |Jay King

Aaron Nesmith's high school coach, John "JP" Pearson, learned years ago that his star player didn't always stop at three baskets in a row. Looking for ways to motivate Nesmith when he played at Porter-Gaud School in Charleston, S.C., Pearson would urge him to string together three straight 3-point makes within a game. Most high school players would struggle to achieve such streaks with any sort of consistency. But for Nesmith, Pearson found the number was not high enough.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Jay King

BOSTON - Despite all the questions surrounding the Celtics' coming offseason, Brad Stevens didn't want to discuss the future much at his annual end-of-season press conference on Monday. In an opening statement, the president of basketball operations attempted to steer the crowd away from any talk of the decisions to come. One problem with the approach: Stevens didn't want to think about the Celtics' loss to the Knicks, either. "I'd rather talk about the CBA and all that crap," Stevens said.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Jay King

BOSTON - For the first time, Al Horford publicly hinted he could consider walking away from the NBA this summer. During an exit interview Saturday, Horford said, "It's just too soon" to talk about his future and whether he intends to continue his career. "I'm going to take some time here with my wife and my kids and just (do) that," Horford, a soon-to-be free agent, said.

2 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Jay King

NEW YORK - When Jaylen Brown fouled out late in the third quarter Friday night, the Madison Square Garden crowd sent him off with waves goodbye. By then, the Celtics' season was essentially over.

3 weeks ago | nytimes.com | Jay King

BOSTON - Derrick White strolled into the Celtics locker room with a smile on his face about an hour before tipoff Wednesday night. After greeting a team employee, White briefly stopped at his locker. Before heading out to the court, he said three words to his nearby teammates. "Let's win one," White said. After dealing with the devastating news of Jayson Tatum's ruptured Achilles, the Celtics had hardly any time to prepare for saving their season in Game 5.