Trae Young made it clear he is not happy that details about friction between himself and Atlanta Hawks head coach Nate McMillan became public, but insisted things were "all good".
A report from The Athletic's Shams Charania detailed an incident where McMillan had not approved Young's decision to skip a team shootaround to focus on treatment for his minor shoulder injury.
It is said to have resulted in an ultimatum, with McMillan telling Young he would have to come off the bench if he wanted to play against the Denver Nuggets on Friday, with the 24-year-old two-time All-Star instead deciding to not show up altogether.
The Hawks officially attributed Young's absence to his shoulder injury, before the report brought new information to light, prompting McMillan to call the whole fiasco a "miscommunication".
The report also included a line citing anonymous sources saying "it's the latest situation that has caused many people within the Hawks to question Young's leadership approach" – pointing to similar friction between Young and former head coach Lloyd Pierce as a main factor behind his departure.
In his first media appearance since the news broke, Young said he was frustrated it all became public.
"It's hard for people who don't know the full situation to understand it," he said on Monday. "Like I said, it's a private matter made public, which was unfortunate. If it stayed private it probably wouldn't have been as big of a deal.
"It's unfortunate. My job and my goal is to win a championship, and that's all I'm focused on.
"When you're an outside guy like [reporters] are, and you don't understand a private matter and private situation, you should probably stay on the outside.
"It's unfortunate that everybody has to understand and know a little bit of the details that went on inside. I mean, inside here we're all good.
"If you've got any more questions about that you can talk to somebody else about it. That's all I've got to say about it."
The Hawks ended up with an impressive win against the Nuggets, with rookie A.J. Griffin taking advantage of his opportunity in the starting line-up to score a career-high 24 points.
Celtics thankful to Holiday's 'big-time play' after taking 3-0 lead against Pacers
The Boston Celtics were indebted to Jrue Holiday after they moved one win away from reaching the NBA Finals with Saturday's victory against the Indiana Pacers.
Holiday converted a three-point play with 38 seconds remaining, then made a game-saving steal as the Celtics overcame an 18-point deficit to beat the Pacers 114-111 for a 3-0 Eastern Conference finals lead.
Indiana's Andrew Nembhard seemed set to claw the Pacers back into Game 3 late on, yet Holiday stepped across for a "trademark steal" to guide his side over the line.
"That's a trademark steal that he always gets with the inside hand," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said of Holiday.
"He gets that a lot usually when a guy is coming down the sideline, but he got it in transition. He made a big-time play."
As Nembhard looked to cut inside the court, Holiday suggested he always knew what was coming.
"He's a right-hand driver," the Celtics hero said after the game, "and he'd been very, very aggressive all night."
Nembhard managed 32 points and nine assists but even that brilliance was not enough to outsmart one of NBA's best defensive players.
"I was trying to get a shot up," said Nembhard. "He got in front of me. I lost the ball, slipped. Turnover."
Jayson Tatum impressed for Boston with 36 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and no turnovers in 44 minutes, yet he put all the focus on the match-winning Holiday.
"I mean, can't speak highly enough about Jrue," said Tatum. "The ultimate teammate competitor, obviously a champion, wasn't at shootaround today, he was sick.
"Dealing with chills and stuff like that. And we've all been there, how tough that is, to fight through it, and for him to come out there and lay it all on the line for us, make the game-winning play essentially, especially on the defensive end.
"Jrue is just a big-time player, and he made a tremendous play."
The Celtics can clinch their second NBA Finals appearance in three seasons with a win in Game 4 on Monday in Indianapolis.
NBA: Celtics erase 18-point deficit for 3-0 lead in East finals
Jrue Holiday converted a three-point play with 38 seconds remaining, then made a game-saving steal as the Boston Celtics overcame an 18-point deficit to beat the Indiana Pacers 114-111 for a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday night.
The Celtics can clinch their second NBA Finals appearance in three seasons with a win in Game 4 on Monday in Indianapolis.
Jayson Tatum matched his playoff career high with 36 points to go with 10 rebounds and eight assists. Jaylen Brown added 24 points and Al Horford had 23 points with seven 3-pointers to help Boston win its sixth straight playoff game and improve to 5-0 on the road.
Andrew Nembhard scored a career-high 32 points, but Holiday, who was questionable before the game due to an illness, stole the ball from him with 3.3 seconds remaining and Indiana down 112-111.
Indiana had a chance to tie the game but Aaron Nesmith's 3-pointer was off the mark.
T.J. McConnell had 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists, while Myles Turner and Pascal Siakam added 22 points apiece for the Pacers, who played without All-NBA guard Tyrese Haliburton (left hamstring).
His presence was sorely missed as the Celtics closed the game on a 13-2 run to send Indiana to its first loss in seven postseason home games.
The teams combined to make six 3s in the fourth quarter, with Horford’s seventh of the night drawing Boston within 111-109 with 1:12 to play. Holiday then converted his 3-point play to give the Celtics their first lead since early in the second quarter.
Pacers star Haliburton reportedly out for Game 3 vs. Celtics
The Indiana Pacers reportedly won't have star Tyrese Haliburton for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics on Saturday.
Haliburton exited in the third quarter of Thursday's 126-110 loss at Boston due to a left hamstring injury, and won't be able to play in the first game in Indianapolis, according to Shams Charania and Joe Vardon of The Athletic.
Thursday's defeat dropped the Pacers to 0-2 in the series.
Haliburton experienced pain in the same hamstring earlier this season, missing 10 games in January.
The two-time All-Star had 25 points, 10 assists and made six 3-pointers in 40 minutes in the series opener before playing only 28 minutes in Game 2. He had 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting and eight assists before departing.
With Haliburton out, the Pacers will likely again rely on Pascal Siakam for offence and need Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell to step up.
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