Category: Sports News

LAS VEGAS — In an alternate universe, Amile Jefferson is still playing in the NBA. The 33-year-old gets on the court every practice, and guards the Celtics’ best frontcourt players.

He can still jump high, after all. He can still swat shots. The 6’9, former Duke University standout is very much still in peak athletic condition.

But, in this world, Jefferson is an up-and-coming coach. This summer, he’s the jovial leader of the Celtics’ Summer League squad, the fiery coach who usually has a grin plastered across his face, but sometimes switches gears to become uber-intense — Joe Mazzulla-style.

“On a regular day-to-day basis, you just see me walking around – I’m very calm, very smiley, just easy to be around,” Jefferson told CelticsBlog in an exclusive conversation. “But, as a player, or when I’m coaching, that side gets unlocked, and then I get super competitive, and I’m a totally different person.”

Near center-court, Jefferson emphatically clenches his fist when Hugo Gonzalez sinks a three-pointer.

“That’s a foul, ref!” he belts each time he believes the whistle should have been blown.

“I’m trying to let them know that I’m in the fight with them, that they’re not alone,” Jefferson said. “And making sure they can hear my voice, making sure they know that I can help them be organized, making sure that they know that I got their back. And whether it’s screaming out a call or coverage, or whether it’s just giving an encouraging word, when I’m out there, I’m locked in – and probably am a little bit of a different person.”

He pauses and smiles.

“A lot louder, I can tell you that.”

Inside Amile Jefferson’s journey from Celtics’ training camp player to Summer League head coach

Jefferson’s story is a fascinating one, because just a few years ago, he arrived at Celtics training camp as a player.

In 2020, he signed an Exhibit-10 contract with Boston, but got diagnosed with COVID-19 on his first day of camp, which effectively ended his chances of making the NBA that season. That came on the heels of several years of grinding in the G League, which included stints with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Orlando Magic on two-way contracts.

After his time with the Celtics was cut short, Jefferson headed to Turkey, where he laced up for the Galatasaray Club. But, at 28 years old, while he was still in his athletic prime, an opportunity came along that changed everything.

Jon Scheyer, one of Jefferson’s closest friends and mentors, had accepted the job of being Duke’s newest head coach, and he wanted Jefferson, the only three-time captain in Duke University history, on the coaching staff.

Jefferson had to make a difficult choice: he was still dominating on the court — he recalls dropping 25 points and 15 rebounds in his last pro game in 2021 with a glisten in his eye — but this was Duke, this was Scheyer, and this was an opportunity almost impossible to resist.

“It was really hard,” Jefferson said. “I was playing well. I thought there was a chance I could get back into the NBA at some capacity. I had training camp offers, which was crazy. My agent was not happy about it.”

There was no major injury. There was no urgent reason Jefferson had to walk away from playing. But the former NCAA champion knew that opportunities like that don’t come by often, and so he capitalized.

“It was fun to do something new and to be uncomfortable and to challenge myself — and that’s where growth happens,” Jefferson said. “And I always had a growth mindset, and I’m always trying to find ways to get better. And so for me, yeah, it was tough. But I knew it was the right thing to do.”

If Scheyer hadn’t made that call, Jefferson believes he never would have made the pivot to coaching that young.

“Duke is definitely home, and home base,” he said. “And so if that didn’t happen, especially if that didn’t happen at the timing it happened that year, I’d probably still be playing basketball right now today, which is crazy how life and the world works.”

“Because I was in shape, I was in my basketball prime, I felt great — I was playing really well.”

Jefferson spent one season as an assistant at Duke and then joined the Celtics in 2023 when a coaching position opened up. That marked another difficult decision, but Scheyer encouraged him to take the role, as difficult as it was to leave Duke.

In Boston, Jefferson was first a member of the offensive team, and last year, pivoted to the defensive team. He also helps assistant coach Matt Reynolds determine when to use the coach’s challenge.

“I always say that I got my PhD in basketball my first year here in Boston, and so it was really cool to do,” he said. “It was really hard to do because Duke is the best school, best program in college basketball – and Jon is one of my closest friends. But he wanted me to do it. He wanted me to learn. He knew I would get better, and so it was a hard decision to make. But it was a great one, and one that I’m grateful for. Grateful for Jon, and grateful for Joe [Mazzulla].”

Toward the end of this past NBA season, the decision paid off in another meaningful way: he learned that Joe Mazzulla had picked him as the next Summer League head coach.

And fittingly, as Jefferson coached his first game, Jon Scheyer and Jayson Tatum, Jefferson’s former Duke University teammate, sat courtside. Tatum cheered when Jefferson got called for a technical foul just 9 minutes into his coaching career.

“Passion,” said a mic’d up Tatum. “That’s what we call it.”

In Las Vegas, Amile Jefferson is prioritizing player connection

Serving as a Summer League a challenge that Jefferson has embraced, and also one that he’s uniquely qualified for. He, like most of the guys on the current Celtics Summer League roster, bounced around on training camp deals in hopes of carving out a spot in the NBA.

In two Summer Leagues spent with the Magic, Jefferson averaged just 4.8 minutes per game. As such, he relates with the majority of the roster, with the many players who have seen limited on-court opportunities as they pursue their lofty dreams.

“I was them,” he said. “I played in three summer leagues. I know what it’s like to be fighting to make it. I know what it’s like to be undrafted. I know what it’s like to be in a new environment, learning a new system in three days, and then trying to apply it.”

As such, Jefferson exudes a palpable pride when he talks about his players.

Take John Tonje, for example. The 25-year-old is fighting for a spot in the NBA after being drafted 53rd overall in 2025. Last year, he was on a two-way contract with the Celtics. This year, he’s angling for one, but he’s facing stiff competition.

“He’s one of the guys I’m most proud of because he wants to make it,” Jefferson said after the Celtics’ Wednesday night win over the Sacramento Kings. “And when a guy wants to make it, and when a guy wants to be in the NBA, that’s how you look. If somebody wants to know how hard it is to be in the NBA — you can all see how good he is. He’s given himself a really good chance. He is definitely an NBA player.”

Jefferson has stressed that message to Tonje. He’s taken the time to get to know all 16 players on the team, some of whom he was already intimately familiar with, some of whom he’s just getting to know.

“I’m trying to talk to all our guys, hit all of them, make sure their mind is right, and make sure that they understand where I see them,” Jefferson said. “And so for John, it was really just giving him his flowers of how I appreciate how hard he’s been playing. I truly do. I think it’s impactful. I think it’s something that guys can learn from. I think when you watch it, you can be inspired because all these guys are trying to chase their dream and fulfill something that they wanted to do since they were kids. So, to see guys going out there, working that hard and implementing that in the game is really cool.”

Milos Uzan, like Tonje, is fighting for an NBA roster spot, and he’s appreciated the way that Jefferson has taken the time to connect with him. The two have chatted about their respective runs to the NCAA title game — Jefferson with Duke in 2015, Uzan with Houston in 2025.

Uzan, who signed an Exhibit-10 contract earlier this week, will join the Celtics for training camp, an opportunity he’s expressed heaps of gratitude for.

“Amile’s a good dude, man,” Uzan said. “I’m glad I’m able to play for him… It’s so much I’m learning.”

In our conversation, Jefferson made sure to point out that it’s not just him who is in an elevated coaching role at Summer League. He credited player development coaches God Shammgod Jr, Da’Sean Butler, and Nana Foulland for how they have handled their promotion to front-of-bench roles in Las Vegas.

“We have an awesome coaching staff, so we’ve been able to do some really cool things with them,” Jefferson said. “Sham, Da’Sean, Nana, in particular, have done an awesome job this summer league, and just finding their voice and really coaching hard and being invested in a way, and being creative and coming up with new schemes and new offenses. So I’m really happy to have those guys around. Really proud of the job they did.”

Jefferson still gets a taste of the on-court competition

Jefferson is no longer in the physical throes of competition the way he was as a player, but as he crouches over at center-court at the Cox Pavilion, he sometimes forgets he’s on the sidelines: “My body, the way I’m moving, the way I’m talking, it feels like I’m out there, even though I’m not.”

During the year, he enjoys getting the opportunity to battle with players on the court. Sometimes, he takes on the task of guarding Neemias Queta and Luka Garza at practice. Other times, he shoots around with close friend Jayson Tatum. Last year, he was tasked with working closely with Nikola Vucevic, a former teammate of his in Orlando.

“It helps me scratch an itch,” Jefferson said. “And I think it’s really helpful for the guys because I can still move really well. I can guard them at a high level. I can show them things, talk through it, but also just get on the court and show them, especially defensively; coming over, helping, protecting the rim, things like that. I feel like I can still do it at a high level — not the level they’re at — but a level that can help them get better.”

At Summer League, Jefferson’s responsibilities have temporarily shifted. He hasn’t spent much time on the court actually battling the players the way he does during the season. He’s been so focused on the big-picture X’s and O’s that he’s not lacing up and competing in practice the way he usually does.

Chris Cenac Jr., the Celtics’ 19-year-old first-round pick, joked that Jefferson has been avoiding guarding him.

“He’s been ducking,” Cenac told CelticsBlog with a grin. “I ain’t gonna lie. Yeah, he’s been ducking.”

Jefferson burst into laughter when asked about that notion.

“That’s actually funny,” he said with a smile. “I was talking to Matt [Reynolds] that, man, I forgot that I didn’t even get on the court with these guys to show them that I can actually still move and play. I’ve been coaching them, trying to coach them so hard. I’ve been worried about that, but Chris, Dillon [Mitchell], they’ll get welcomed to the Academy once training camp and all that stuff goes on. So, ask him again in like a month and a half.”

Under Jefferson’s leadership, the Summer League Celtics are 3-1. Despite having no lottery picks and only a few returners from last season, they only missed entry into the playoffs due to point differential.

The players — from the biggest names on the roster to the ones that may not even see the floor — are grateful for the culture that Jefferson has established.

“You can tell he’s a winner,” said Hugo Gonzalez. “He got a lot of passion in basketball, and he wants to have things perfect. And I think he transmits a great message to everybody — of the ambition, of the competition, being hungry for 40 minutes of the game. I think he’s doing an amazing job.”

LeBron James has been enjoying the process of selecting his next NBA team during this free agency period.

He's made multiple public appearances during Fanatics Fest in New York City where he has spoken at multiple events, including in front of crowds who piled in to hear live podcast recordings of his show "Mind the Game" and "The Shop".

During a live recording of "The Shop", James reminisced about the times in his career where he's been thrown out of games, which happened twice. He looked back at the most recent ejection, a Nov. 22, 2021 game as the Los Angeles Lakers visited the Detroit Pistons.

James and then-Pistons center Isaiah Stewart II were jockeying for position on a rebound during a free throw attempt from Jerami Grant with 9:18 remaining in the third quarter. Grant made the free throw to extend the lead to 78-66 when James accidentally struck Stewart in the face, leaving him with blood dripping down his face.

Words were exchanged, pushing and shoving ensued and Stewart infamously pursued James around Little Caesars Arena.

"He's chasing the (expletive) out of me," James said in laughter. "I was like 'get this big (expletive) up off of me'. That's a big boy. (I was like) aye, y'all better make sure he don't get me."

For what it's worth, Stewart stands at 6-foot-8, 250-pounds of brute force. Both players were ejected from the game, which the Lakers won 121-116.

Now, five years later, James is a free agent and Stewart was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for three future second-round draft picks in June, allowing Detroit to clear $15 million in cap space.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY Sports: LeBron James reminisces about 2021 fight, ejection with Isaiah Stewart

As we wrote in the piece asking the question, it was a very tough year for Nets fans. A ton of losses and a Knicks championship. Not the best. However, the Draft and more specifically, the combination between the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer League have seemingly given this fanbase a sigh of relief.

They found two players who look likes stars in Mikel Brown Jr. and Egor Dëmin. Other players like Chaney Johnson also made a name for themselves. So, after a difficult year:

Did Summer League change any sort of outlook for the fans? It appears so. Heading into Vegas, the fanbase was bracing for the slow rebuild. But the standout chemistry between 2026 sixth-overall pick Mikel Brown Jr. and sophomore guard Egor Dëmin flipped the script.

Patience or Promise?

• [Comment]: “My answer was no for a simple reason: I expect the team to start developing into something real now, seeing MBJ work fluidly with Demin so far is exactly what I was expecting (call me glass half full idc).”
• [Comment]: “Yes. Simply for the reason that MBJ is legit. He’s a good one. Finally.”
• [Comment]: “Summer league tends to only show you who does not belong so looking at our roster Demin, MBJ, Wolf and Cheney seem to belong mix them with MPJ, Randle, Sharpe, Wagner, Ellis, Noah, and Mann and that would be the 10 man rotation I can see.”

Shifting to Jordi

• [Comment]: “I’m not a Jordi fan and have no faith in his rotations and load management for players who aren’t injured.”
  • [Reply]: “Strong opinion, considering he’s been handicap by two tanking seasons. I’ll judge him by what he did when he had talent with the Canadian national team. New heights for them.”
    • [Reply]: “Fernandez led Canada to the best international result the men’s program has had in the modern era, a run to the bronze medal at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, while simultaneously qualifying for the 2024 Olympics.”

Thanks to everybody who voted and/or participated.

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You never know who you’re going to see walking down the streets of New York.

Former Lakers center Dwight Howard was seen roaming the Big Apple. He had a hilarious moment with a young fan after he was mistaken for Heat center Bam Adebayo.

Howard reaffirmed to the fan that it was OK to mistake him for someone else, to which, shortly after, Howard saw a familiar face walking down the street.

Howard noticed a large person walking on the sidewalk and compared his size to Patrick Ewing, only to find out it was former Lakers center Andrew Bynum.

“Is that him? That is Andrew Bynum,” Howard said in the video. “Oh s–t!”

Howard hugged the former Lakers center and told him it was good to see him.

Bynum, a New Jersey native, went on his way after saying hello to Howard, leaving his face with a big smile.

Despite both players spending time with the Lakers, the two never were teammates. Bynum’s departure resulted in Howard coming to LA.

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Bynum was traded to the 76ers just before the 2012-2013 season as part of a four-team trade sending Howard to the Lakers to play with Kobe Bryant.

When the trade happened, Bynum was fresh from an All-Star season in which he averaged 18.7 points, 1.9 blocks and 11.8 rebounds.

Despite being traded to Philadelphia, Bynum never played a game for the 76ers. He missed the season due to knee injuries.

Bynum played one more year in the NBA before retiring after the 2013-2014 season.

When Howard arrived in LA, it was supposed to be a match made in heaven because he and Bryant were expected to be the NBA’s best duo.

That match became much more complex as the two had a love-hate relationship as teammates despite Howard averaging 18.1 points, 12.4 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game during the 2012-13 season.

The Lakers finished the regular season at 45-37 and were swept in the first round of the NBA playoffs by the Spurs.

After the season, Howard left the Lakers and spent the next three years with the Rockets.

Before he retired from basketball in March, Howard had two more stints in LA during the 2019-2020 and 2021-2022 seasons.

During the 2019-2020 season, he helped the Lakers win their 17th NBA championship while playing alongside LeBron James.