Celtics Star Weirdly Dragged Into Suns Drama Amid Coach Firing

It’s probably safe to assume Celtics guard Jrue Holiday and Suns guard Bradley Beal won’t be getting postgame drinks anytime soon.

While Holiday prepares to help Boston defend its title in the playoffs, where he could play an even more pronounced role this year with Jaylen Brown’s lingering knee issue, Beal finds himself amid some drama in the desert.

Phoenix fired head coach Mike Budenholzer after just one season Monday. The Suns, despite having the largest payroll in league history (for now), missed the playoffs, which feels borderline impossible in the NBA with the sort of talent the Suns have.

That doesn’t reflect on anyone involved, including Budenholzer, even if making him the fall guy probably isn’t fair.

What does this have to do with Holiday, though? According to Yahoo’s Chris Haynes, Budenholzer tried to pull a lever with Beal, imploring him to play more like Holiday. According to Haynes, that went over like a fart in church.

“Holiday is a guy who might become a Hall of Famer, but you’ve gotta understand, you’re talking to a guy of Bradley Beal’s caliber, to tell him to play like Jrue Holiday — it wasn’t well received,” Haynes reported in a YouTube video published Monday.

“You know how he’s made a name for himself in this league, doing it and playing his way. Asking him to shift his game and to alter it … it wasn’t well received the way it was stated, as it was explained to me. So that rubbed Bradley Beal the wrong way.”

Beal is a three-time NBA All-Star who once finished third in Rookie of the Year voting. He has played 39 career playoff games, losing three of nine series. His team has won exactly one playoff game since 2018. He did score 26 points in the 2021 All-Star Game, though. Holiday has won two NBA titles and is a six-time All-Defensive selection. He messed around and won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics to boot. He is, though, just a two-time All-Star.

That Budenholzer’s attempt to, you know, be a coach is being used as an example of poor communication is telling on its own. It’s made worse, of course, by the fact that Beal’s not the one who should be insulted by the suggestion.