What Fiery Wyc Grousbeck Reportedly Told Celtics Amid Game 3 ‘Run-In’

After the Boston Celtics embarrassing Game 3 loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals, radio broadcaster Cedric Maxwell said that he heard rumors about a tense “run-in” featuring people in Celtics management and players.

The Athletic’s Jay King and Jared Weiss provided some added context to that exchange in an extensive feature story published Thursday morning, three days after Boston’s season ended in a winner-take-all Game 7 at TD Garden.

The Athletic wrote how Grousbeck broke the silence in Boston’s locker room after Game 3, as players and coaches were in shock given the 128-102 verdict. At the time, it put Boston in an insurmountable 3-0 hole in the best-of-seven series.

“With the season on the line following a 128-102 Game 3 loss to the eighth-seed Heat, Grousbeck came in hot. After Grant Williams asked everyone to clear the room so the players could have some space, Grousbeck went off,” The Athletic wrote.

“His message to the effect that he has been building this franchise for over 20 years and the players need to play with some balls left the locker room stunned,” The Athletic wrote.

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Veteran Blake Griffin essentially confirmed the interaction himself.

“(Grousbeck) was right, but we shouldn’t need that,” Griffin told the outlet. “As soon as we got to the locker room, we were just so frustrated.”

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla confessed to a disconnect in the locker room after Game 3, as well.

Perhaps it was Grousbeck’s message or the fact the Celtics truly had their backs against the wall which propelled Boston to three consecutive victories, including a pair of road wins in Miami. Still, the Green came up short of making history and advancing to the NBA Finals for a second straight season.

The Celtics were one of four teams to ever extend the series to Game 7 after trailing 3-0 in the series, and would have been the first team to ever come back from that deficit. However, they came up well short in the winner-take-all contest Monday night after leaving themselves no margin for error.

It’s fair to think the almost comeback doesn’t mean anything to Grousbeck and the ownership group, who were confident this could be the team to claim the long-awaited Banner 18. And for good reason.