The Boston Celtics underwent a lot of changes this offseason. Kyrie Irving, Marcus Morris, and Aron Baynes departed. Kemba Walker, Enes Kanter, and a bunch of rookies joined the squad. One of the players that left, Marcus Morris, isn’t so happy he left. If it were up to Morris, he would have stayed with the Celtics. Morris eventually signed with the Knicks this offseason.
Morris is now *holding a grudge* because the Celtics never called him during free agency. Morris, via Jay King of The Athletic:
“I just refuse to watch any Boston Celtics games,” Morris said. “I refuse. I’m in New York now. I thought it was a great possibility of me coming back here. So, by me not even getting that opportunity or getting that chance to have that, I refuse to do anything with Boston.”
Morris does not necessarily hold a grudge against Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, but wishes the organization at least would have contacted him when free agency opened on June 30. Morris thought he deserved at least that much.
I don’t hate the move. I’m the same way. If I feel like I’ve been slighted in some way, I want nothing to do with you. I’m the fastest bridge burner of all-time. Morris feels disrespected so he burned the bridge. I respect the hell out of it. Morris seems to get mad a lot, which I’m more than fine with. We need more guys like Morris in the league bouncing balls off dude’s heads.
At the same time, the Celtics had no choice here. The second Kyrie Irving left, the Celtics had to find a way to clear enough cap space to fit Kemba Walker under the books. That meant even trading Aron Baynes. Boston then used the mid-level to replace Al Horford. There was no way to bring back Marcus Morris.
Morris signed a one year contract with the Knicks this offseason. I’m sure he will say the same thing about the Knicks too after the season. New York is off to another rough start and may opt for younger players later in the season.
