Robb: David Lee Understands Why Celtics Fans Are Bitter Toward Him
By Brian Robb, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Rebounding has been a weakness for the Boston Celtics all season, and it's an issue that popped up once again in the team's loss against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday. San Antonio out-rebounded Boston 45-36 in the defeat, including a 13-8 edge on the offensive glass.
The hard-fought 109-103 setback was a little bit tougher for Celtics fans to swallow when noticing who did most of the damage on the glass for the Spurs: Former Celtic David Lee. The big man grabbed seven of the Spurs' 13 offensive rebounds and posted his first double-double of the year, less than one year after his disappointing stint in green.
The veteran power forward looked exactly like the type of player in the performance the Celtics thought they would have at their disposal in 2015 when they acquired him from the Golden State Warriors. The 33-year-old fell far short of those expectations in 2015, however, posting career lows in shooting percentage and rebounding numbers before falling out of the C's rotation midway through the season.
Lee was ultimately bought out by Boston after Danny Ainge failed to find a deal for 6-foot-9 big man and his $15 million salary by the trade deadline. Eventually, he landed with the Dallas Mavericks for the final couple months of the 2015-16 season where his production skyrocketed (8.7 points, 7.0 rebounds per game, 65 percent shooting) and that bounce-back has continued after he signed a veteran's minimum deal with the Spurs this summer.
"Yeah he's played really well," Brad Stevens said after the game. "You saw that towards the end of last year when he was playing with Dallas and he's been a really good fit. Some days they go with guys and we've talked about that a little bit around here like some days those guys have it going and [Coach Popovich] really rolls with him."
Lee has openly admitted he didn't come into training camp in Boston in top form, and spent the majority of his time with the team working his way back into shape. It was too late for him to make an impact with the Celtics by the time he dropped an extra 20 pounds, a situation that has caused some sour feelings towards Lee by Celtics fans.
"I completely understand that," Lee said of that sentiment. "Like I said, I'd love to be perfect and play great all the time. It wasn't the case last year to start the year and it wasn't out of a lack of effort or disrespecting Boston or anything like that. It just worked out the way that it did. If I could go back and do it again, I would have probably tried to come in in better shape and that's that. There's nothing that I can do about it now but just try not to make that same mistake in the future."
Lee didn't cost Ainge much in terms of trade capital (Gerald Wallace has not played in the NBA since being dealt), but the argument can be made that Lee cost the Celtics some wins early last year, since Stevens kept faith in the veteran due to his track record. Despite ugly numbers for a couple months, Lee kept pushing to play and Stevens sacrificed minutes for other contributors (Jerebko, Olynyk) in favor of him. Still, the former All-Star believes his tenure in Boston wasn't all bad.
"I came in here and I was a good leadership guy for them," he said. "I was still positive with all the young guys. It's not like I came here and protested and asked to be traded or asked to be bought out. It's a situation that occurred and I thought my attitude was great. Just didn't play well the first few games of the season and then they shifted who they wanted to play. That's the way things work out and I take responsibility for my side of it. I wish things could have gone different but it's always about what are you going to today and moving forward, so that's what I gotta keep doing."
Both sides have moved on in the last year with no bad blood leftover since the divorce. Still, as the Celtics continually struggle with rebounding on a nightly basis, it's fair to wonder what might have been with Lee if he showed up ready to go during his time in green.
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.
