Marcin Gortat in all black: 'Don't blame me, please.' 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/GwRtS0gUGG
— Chase Hughes (@chasedcsports) January 24, 2017
Don’t look now, but the budding rivalry between Boston and Washington is becoming a whole lot of fun. The last time these two Eastern Conference foes played one another, John Wall slapped Jae Crowder in the face after Crowder poked Wall’s nose. Two weeks after that incident there are still some hard feelings lingering between these two teams.
Prior to their matchup on Tuesday, the Wizards decided to send a message to the Celtics by having every player wear all-black as they entered the arena. Why? Well, because they view the game as a funeral, of course.
Me to John Wall: "All black everything?"
Wall: "A black everything. A fun-er-ral!"
Beal in background: "Yaa."— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) January 24, 2017
Wall especially seemed to have fun with this, as he smiled and raised his eyebrows to the media as he made it to the game.
John Wall and Kief Morris arrive in all black for Wizards-Celtics. pic.twitter.com/LMEoRulMKA
— Chase Hughes (@chasedcsports) January 24, 2017
Word of this must have gotten back to the Celtics, because Crowder and Isaiah Thomas both viewed the Wizards’ wardrobe choices as “cute.”
Jae Crowder on the Wizards wearing all black: "That's cute. … We're just gonna play basketball, get a win, man. Nothing else to it."
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) January 24, 2017
Thomas also commented that he thinks this means Washington is approaching this game with a Game 7 mentality.
https://twitter.com/CSNMA/status/823970298064175104
Is this silly and kind of petty? Absolutely. But the NBA is always better when there are legitimate beefs between teams – it makes random Tuesday night games in January fun when you know there’s bad blood between the two teams taking the floor. Never stop going in, Wizards. As for the Celtics, well, we have a feeling that they’ll be just as fired up for this one as the team that referred to this game as a “funeral.”
