3 Grizzlies who directly helped Celtics win 2024 NBA Championship
By Mark Nilon
The Memphis Grizzlies may have finished with the association's seventh-worst record of 27-55 and missed out on the playoffs for the first time in four years this past campaign, but, ironically, they played a major role in crowning this season's NBA Champion.
On Monday evening, the Boston Celtics bested the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to claim their 18 Larry O'Brien Trophy and, in turn, once again establish themselves as the winningest franchise in league history.
Grizzlies who directly helped Celtics win 2024 NBA Finals
While such an outcome was widely expected even before the 2023-24 season officially began, with many odds-makers listing the C's as odds-on favorites to win it all, it's undeniable that it took a few tweaks from the front office to make these projections become a reality, and there were several Grizzlies members, both past and present, who helped them out along the way.
Lamar Stevens
Lamar Stevens was by no means a major or consistent contributor within the Celtics rotation during his first-half stint with the franchise. After all, through roughly four months of regular season action, the 26-year-old saw himself play in 19 games total and averaged a mere 2.8 points and 1.6 rebounds in 6.4 minutes per night.
That said, what made Stevens most impactful for Boston was his sheer presence within the locker room and on the sidelines, as even his peers and the team's coaching staff have publicly acknowledged the effect he would have on the ball club during his tenure.
I asked Jayson Tatum about the emotional impact of the Celtics losing Lamar Stevens:
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzellNBA) February 8, 2024
“To wake up from my nap earlier and see that he got traded was tough. The locker room kind of did feel empty today, coming to the game and he wasn’t here.”
(🎥 @CelticsCLNS) pic.twitter.com/ab7N3u6H1J
From superstar Jayson Tatum admitting that "everybody loved" Stevens and that "the locker room kind of did feel empty" when he was dealt to the Grizzlies back on February 7 to coach Joe Mazzulla praising his work-ethic and professionalism, the fourth-year pro provided continuity in effort and expertise to the end of the bench that was exuding from the club's star players.
Add in the fact that his departure netted the team the next player on this list, and there are plenty of reasons to argue why Lamar Stevens played a small yet impactful role in Boston's championship run.