It’s no secret Tacko Fall is well-liked in Boston and now NBA fans are making it even more known.
The 7-foot-5 center joined four other Celtics teammates to earn All-Star Game votes. Fall was in sixth place when the voting numbers were released last week.
Head coach Brad Stevens, though, wasn’t the biggest fan of his big man cracking the leaderboard, saying he didn’t “love it.” It wasn’t due to Fall’s personality by any means, but more so the fact he’s played in just four games for Boston this season. And Stevens elaborated a bit more on his comments Wednesday during his appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak and Bertrand.”
“Well, the reason I said I don’t like it is because there’s a lot of guys that have played however many (games) … and those guys have all busted it to have great years, whether they’re on our team, other teams, whatever the case may be,” he said, as transcribed by 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Matt Dolloff. “I think if we’re gonna have an All-Star game, you try to pick the guys that impact winning for the very best (teams). But you know, that’s probably not possible. I realize it’s a mix of a popularity contest and what you’ve accomplished, and how you’ve played thus far.”
But Stevens doesn’t want any member of his team to get caught up in being (or not being) named an All-Star.
“The message that I would have for our guys: it’s not important if you’re named an All-Star, it’s important that you’re playing like one. At the end of the day there’s so much subjectivity in that,” he said. “… Certainly, the 12 guys that get voted on always are deserving, but there’s also eight more that are too. I don’t think Tacko, as much as I love him and as much as I enjoy having him around, should be the starting center for the east.”
While Fall probably won’t be on the final roster for the East, the Internet is in full control of his fate.
And as Kevin Garnett once said: “Anything’s possible.”
