Why do people think Boston’s Sam Hauser is a bad defender?

justin quinn

Sun, Jan 21, 2024, 11:00 AM·1 min read

Early in his NBA career, reserve Boston Celtics forward Sam Hauser was a bit of a liability on the defensive end, but then most younger players tend to be as they find their way in the league. But for whatever reason (Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla thinks it might be because Hauser is White), teams somehow still think that the Virginia alum is still a bad defender.

But Hauser has really worked on that aspect of his game, and is truly a solid if not especially remarkable defender able to guard up or down a bit from the small forward position. He makes few mistakes on either end of the court, and has even learned to leverage the inexplicable extra targeting he gets on the defensive end of the court to his (and Boston’s) advantage.

The hosts of the CLNS Media “Talkin’ Cs / How Bout Them Celtics!” podcasts linked up to dig into Hauser as a defender as well as other recent topics du jour.