Boston Celtics center Luke Kornet revealed the origin of yet another mysterious on-court display.
During Wednesday’s win over the Atlanta Hawks, in which Kornet scored his most points (15) in a Celtics uniform while grabbing eight rebounds and totaling four blocks, the 27-year-old veteran debuted a never-before-seen celebration with Boston. The celebration was birthed during his time with the Maine Celtics of the G League.
Watch Kornet’s celebration here after finishing a dunk off the feed from Jayson Tatum, courtesy of Celtics.com’s Taylor Snow.
“That started last year in Maine,” Kornet told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin before Friday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans. “… I don’t know if you know this but there’s a lot of Moose in Maine. So, it was just like a little team inside joke that started happening for various reasons. … You just gotta mix it up. You don’t wanna be routine with it. You gotta keep it fun. It was a fun game.”
Kornet is no stranger to answering questions for his on-court antics. During Boston’s 132-123 loss in overtime against the Cleveland Cavaliers — the last time the Celtics were in the losing column — Kornet displayed an odd defensive tactic, jumping from a significant distance beyond reach while Cavs forward Isaac Okoro attempted a wide-open 3-pointer from the corner. While far from a traditional shot contest, the move proved to be effective with Okoro missing.
“I just feel like we just have a great identity as a team,” Kornet said. “… It doesn’t really matter who’s out there. We’re all like running the same direction kind of thing. So like, whether it’s your number called or the guy next to you, you don’t really care. You just want our team to win. And if that’s the move that helps us win. … The ability to just like accept it and put the team above yourself is big.”
