Even after leaving the Boston Celtics, Luke Kornet continues to win at life. Between evolving from journeyman to a rotation big, winning a championship, getting the richest deal of his career, and now, he's competing for yet another title with the San Antonio Spurs.
The Celtics may have been the ones who gave Kornet the chances to assert himself in the NBA, but he's proven that he was more than just a success story in their development system. He proved that in what may have been the biggest play of the 2026 NBA Playoffs, let alone the Western Conference Finals, when he blocked a fastbreak dunk on Isaiah Hartenstein in the game's final frame.
BLOCKED BY LUKE KORNET OH MY GOODNESS pic.twitter.com/EOgSLSQR8L
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) May 31, 2026
It's another reminder of Kornet's worth and also of the Celtics' biggest slip-up during last year's playoffs: not playing him against the New York Knicks. Boston lost a winnable series against New York in last year's Eastern Conference Semifinals because they tried as hard as they could to get Kristaps Porzingis going, even though he was clearly still sick.
That issue was compounded by not playing Kornet, who was not only healthy but clearly proving himself more impactful than Porzingis. If Boston had played him more, it's very possible they would have beaten New York, though we shan't ignore what happened with Jayson Tatum.
Kornet continuing his pretty impressive story with San Antonio makes it harder to digest last year, which has only made this year's final result all the more discouraging after what happened.
It's also why the Celtics tried as hard as they did to re-sign him
Boston wanted to re-sign Kornet last summer after all his efforts - it fell through the cracks that Kornet correctly bet on himself after they won Banner 18 in 2024 - but they also had to get rid of all the excess salary on their payroll. Needless to say, it was a few too many hoops to jump through.
But Kornet has only proven that they were right to put in the effort. He's only continued to flourish in the NBA, and it's gotten him to another NBA Finals with maybe the league's most dangerous team. Not to mention, this probably won't be the only time Kornet makes it to the finals as a Spurs if we're being realistic here.
Boston can be disappointed to learn they couldn't bring him back, but they can be proud to have found a diamond in the rough in Kornet. It wasn't a mistake to let him leave because they technically didn't choose that. It was just a mistake not to take advantage of the opportunity they had when he was here.
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