Magic Guard Backs Teammate After ‘Disrespectful’ Exit From Celtics

It's been over two calendar years since the Celtics waived Moritz Wagner, ending his run in Boston at nine games.

Wanger was 23 years old when joining the Celtics, and didn't see a whole lot of playing time (6.8 minutes) nor was a case made to keep him in an already sluggish reserve unit. Yet, in hindsight, current Orlando Magic teammate Cole Anthony still doesn't understand where Boston was coming from.

"They waived him, didn't they? Yeah, disrespectful. I'm sure he remembers that," Anthony told reporters pregame at TD Garden, per CLNS Media video. "... It's been awesome to kind of just see his game mature, get better every single year. And he's one of my longest-tenured teammates at this point so big shoutout to Moritz and Mo Wagner masterclass incoming tonight."

A bold foreshadowing of what Wagner has in store, but not a far-fetched prediction considering Wagner's track record when facing Boston.

So far, Wagner has the upper hand, as does Orlando -- riding a four-game winning streak against the Celtics.

Wagner last scored a game-leading 27 points en route to a Magic victory over the Celtics during NBA In-Season Tournament play in November. That marked his fourth career 20-plus-point performance when facing Boston, and the third since being waived back in 2021.

As notable as that might be, it's unlikely the Celtics front office has lost any sleep since parting ways with Wagner.

Boston's gone on to upgrade its roster arguably better than any other organization in the NBA this past offseason, reconstructing a team that's led the Eastern Conference at 18-5 -- including a perfect 12-0 start at home.

Wrapping up their five-game homestand with back-to-back matchups with the Magic, the Celtics have their shot at redemption before heading off to the West Coast.