Celtics' Thomas: It's 'cute' Wizards will wear all black to game
One of the best lesser-known NBA storylines this season is the budding rivalry between Eastern Conference foes, the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards.
The latest installment in this saga will have the Wizards rolling up to Tuesday's game against Boston wearing all black, as a means of sending a message to the visiting Celtics.
The intent is obviously to intimidate Isaiah Thomas and the Celtics into thinking they should be afraid of what the Wizards may do, but he remains unfazed.
"That's cute that they're wearing all black," Thomas said as he entered morning shootaround, according to CSN Mid-Atlantic's Chase Hughes.
The beef seemed to start in early November when the Wizards' John Wall was ejected from the teams' first matchup of the year for shoving the Celtics' Marcus Smart. Wall was fined $25,000 for the fragrant-2 and subsequent ejection.
Then on Jan. 11 - their last contest - Boston's Jae Crowder and Wall nearly came to blows following the Celtics' 117-108 win. Crowder was displeased with some extra-curriculars by Wall, and stuck his finger in the Wizards' point guard's face, much to his displeasure. Team benches cleared, and the two were separated - albeit momentarily. The sides would reportedly reconvene in the tunnel outside the locker rooms where security would have to separate them.
Washington's Bradley Beal is reportedly the one responsible for suggesting the team take this route because, in his eyes, the score isn't settled.
"We've been battle-tested. We're ready. And we owe them one," Beal told J. Michael of CSN Mid-Atlantic.