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"We look at who we sign and how much we pay and we look not only at how good the athlete is but what his or her character are," Knight said. "It's not an exact science, but it's a process that we go through with a lot of intensity and with a lot of people sticking their hand in it."

Irving has expressed no shortage of controversial opinions during his career. He repeatedly questioned whether the Earth was round before eventually apologizing to science teachers. After the pandemic hit in 2020, he urged players to consider not participating in the season resumption inside a bubble at Walt Disney World in Florida. And last year, his refusal to get a COVID-19 vaccine led to him being banned from playing in most of the Nets' home games.

The Celtics, who were led by Jaylen Brown's 30 points, did express some frustration from their defense, which as Barrett said, prevented Boston from breaking the game open earlier than it could have, considering how well the Celtics shot the ball.

But playing without Al Horford (back) and Luke Kornet (personal reasons) and with Robert Williams still sidelined from offseason knee surgery, the Celtics were pleased with the way they responded on the second night of a back-to-back.

It's exceptionally rare for an NBA coach to be let go on a game day, much less roughly 12 hours after a win (the Nets beat the Indiana Pacers 116-109 on Monday night).

Marks explained the business decision had been in the works for days. If the timeline he refers to here is accurate, these conversations would have actually started only a few days into the 2022-23 regular season.

Stephen A.'s surprise pick to face the Warriors in the Finals