Report: Celtics player told Blake Griffin not to join Boston due to 'dysfunction'

Blake Griffin was reportedly very close to joining the Boston Celtics this season.

However, when Griffin was choosing a team to join this season after his buyout from the Detroit Pistons, he reportedly asked a Celtics player if he should join the team midseason and was told not to come to Boston because of the "apparent dysfunction," according to The Athletic's Jared Weiss.

It's not surprising that things might not be going so well in Boston. The Celtics went 36-36 this season and fell to Griffin and the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the playoffs. 

The Celtics also decided to blow things up this offseason by promoting Brad Stevens to president of basketball operations, and Kemba Walker was recently traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Al Horford. 

One of the reported locker-room issues was between Walker and Stevens, as Weiss says their relationship was "tension-filled." Weiss also writes that Stevens was also perceived to be harder on Walker he was than on other players.

Boston's defense was also worse than it was in previous seasons. Weiss noted that Marcus Smart was "alone" in trying to establish accountability. 

Weiss also added: 

"The Celtics' culture of competition is eroding—with more than one source pointing to the players' perceived indifference toward Kyrie Irving stomping on the Celtics logo after the final home game of the season as a red flag they did not exhibit the same sense of pride in the organization that has been the Celtics' calling card in years past."

There's no doubt the Celtics need to make some changes, and they're well on their way to doing that. If the changes make things better, then maybe players will be willing to join the Celtics in the future.