We need to have custom championship shirts for the Bus One Boys honestly
SaintsNick94
Blake and Luke seem like such good teammates. I hope we have them back next year.
SouthernUpstate
The vibes are immaculate
AnonymousIguana_
I need a video of Kornet’s Bus 1 Boys Uptown Girl remix
Avadya
Fucking love this team
AWalker17
This makes me very happy.
The_Dok33
the vibes man…. the vibes…
yerfatma
>“I feel like my vocabulary’s pretty good. I’ve been able to keep up with Luke’s academia. He’s a very smart dude and he definitely has those words, but I feel like I’ve kept up. If not, I’m (whispering to my phone), ‘Hey, Siri.’”
LongingRusted17
theathletic.com A peek inside with the Celtics’ Bus One Boys: ‘You see some weird stuff’ Jared Weiss 14 – 18 minutes
As a veteran in this league, Blake Griffin understands the importance of following rules. They are the fabric of our society, the thin line that separates us from anarchy. In his role as a locker room sage, he must lead by example to ensure his team’s prosperity.
Yet when the Boston Celtics were visiting Los Angeles in December and Griffin was staying at his house instead of the team hotel in Beverly Hills, he could have done his own thing and taken his time driving his favorite car to park in his old Clippers spot in the bowels of the arena.
He gets his pregame routine in later than most of his teammates. He can pull up at his convenience.
So why was he standing outside the team hotel hours early for the game, stepping onto the first bus to the arena? Well, he had to uphold his duties as the de facto president of the Bus One Boys, an exclusive group of players tied together by an indelible bond.
“Yeah, that’s pretty much the only rule: Be on bus one,” Griffin told The Athletic. “If you don’t do that, your membership can be put up at the next fake meeting that never happens.”
Bus One is a particular crew on each team across the NBA, typically comprising of players at the end of the bench whose pregame workout timeslots tend to be the earliest. As the Celtics face the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs this week, it’s likely you won’t see many of them play meaningful minutes. But they are still playing a role and maintaining the foundation of the positive locker room culture that will be tested throughout the postseason.
Their “meetings” take place on the first bus to the game from the hotel when the team is on the road, consisting of the bench players, an assortment of coaches and team staffers. The Bus One Boys, as they have named themselves, consists of Griffin, Luke Kornet, Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard, as well as Justin Jackson and Noah Vonleh before they were traded earlier this season.
Guest appearances often include two-way players Mfiondu Kabengele and JD Davison, deadline acquisition Mike Muscala and sometimes even Jaylen Brown when he’s getting in some early work. To gain official membership in the group, a player has to follow one simple rule.
“We’ll allow guys in perfectly fine and they’re always welcome. But if you violate the Bus One code — which is basically just not being on (the bus) — that’s really it,” Kornet said. “The only pillar is participation and attendance.”
The bus can be a hostile place for those in the group when they mess up. It creates a facetious sense of fear, according to Kornet, that ensures they’re holding each other accountable as much on the bus as they are on the court. So nobody was surprised in L.A. when Griffin pulled up.
“That’s true dedication. A good teammate right there,” Hauser said. “Loyal Bus One member. Wouldn’t have expected anything less of him.”
Dedication was the word that kept coming up when talking to the Bus One Boys. It’s a half-joke, a recognition that while everything is fun, it does mean something for them to all be together.
“Nobody was missing the bus ever, and sometimes the best part of our days was just getting on the bus and talking on the way there,” Griffin said. “Especially when you stay at home, you don’t want to feel like you’re missing anything. You don’t want to be a distraction that way. So I opted into that.”
Wait, from the Bus One Boys or the actual team?
“From the Bus One Boys,” he said. “Well… for both.”
Bus One Boys Blake Griffin, left, Payton Pritchard, center, and Justin Jackson head into the arena. (Scott Wachter / USA Today)
Griffin didn’t skip the bus. He knew the consequences.
They already had to deal with one straggler earlier in the year when Vonleh’s shooting time was moved back and he took a later bus to the arena. That did not go over well.
“You gotta let us know if you’re not gonna be on the bus,” Hauser said.
Sometimes situations arise and you have to break the Bus One code, but these things can’t be done on a whim. The problem wasn’t missing the bus, but not properly disclosing his absence.
“It was a very intervention-style emotional support group. No tissues, just vulnerability,” Hauser said. “Just let us know or just be on time for the bus. Pretty simple.”
The message was clear: Formally announce your scheduled leave in the Bus One Boys group chat or face administrative action.
“That started like, ‘OK, your Bus One Boys’ credentials are in question,’” Justin Jackson said. “Obviously all jokes, but basically just see where his head was at, if he was really about the Bus One life still or if he had moved on from that. But needless to say, from that point on, he was always on Bus One.”
Then there was the time Pritchard got to the arena so early that he took an Uber before his teammates even gathered for the bus at the team hotel.
“We’re a pretty welcoming group, but if you have permanent status, then we’re a very harsh group,” Kornet said.
But what makes the Bus One Boys, besides, you know, being on the bus? It features everything from existential discussions to sarcastic debates over innocuous curiosities.
“Throughout the year, we crack jokes, we quote movies, we have a very dry sense of humor,” Hauser said. “It’s just fun and good energy before you get to the arena, where you have to lock in.”
Griffin said they love to play “Would you rather?” games to get to know one another or just wander down rabbit holes of random questions.
Occasionally it’s fascinating, usually it’s silly.
“Some things that can’t be on record, for sure,” Pritchard said when asked for his favorite bus moment of the season.
For some of the players, it’s the topic of conversation. For others, it’s just the vibe of hanging out together.
“Early on one time I got on the bus and Sam and Luke were like, ‘Yeah!’ and I was like, ‘YEAH!’ and all the guys back there were just like, ‘YEEAAAHHH!’” Griffin said. “Then you turn around and all the coaches are like what the hell is going on back there? It’s just like that. That’s the energy. Have fun.”
There is even an official Bus One Boys theme song, a remix of Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl.” According to Hauser, they were singing “Uptown Girl” on Bus One when inspiration hit Kornet. He will often quietly sing to himself in the locker room, but this time he was putting on a show.
After a rousing response from his audience, he decided to start writing a full theme song.
“We’ve got a couple stanzas that can probably use a little more polishing,” Kornet said.
But what prompted Kornet to come up with the song?
“Boredom,” Kornet said. “The creative mind needs to flourish.”
He said it took him 10 minutes on one bus ride to put it together, then he started serenading his crew for a little onboard entertainment.
“He’s got a beautiful voice. We heard him when he did it on the bus and he’s been tweaking it, so I’ve heard enough to know it’s heavenly,” Griffin said. “One bus ride he was particularly quiet and then he had some lyrics, so maybe that’s when he wrote it.”
Kornet is the imaginative hub of the Bus One Boys, essentially an English professor moonlighting as an NBA player. From his Kornet Kontests to somehow pulling off using the word “phlegmatic” on media day, there is hardly anything about Kornet that seems conventional in the NBA.
“(Kornet) said, ‘A fortuitous bounce’ on the bench tonight, and Fi (Kabengele) goes, ‘What’s that mean?’” Griffin said as he keeled over laughing after a late March game. “I feel like my vocabulary’s pretty good. I’ve been able to keep up with Luke’s academia. He’s a very smart dude and he definitely has those words, but I feel like I’ve kept up. If not, I’m (whispering to my phone), ‘Hey, Siri.’”
The Celtics’ Luke Kornet, left, and Sam Hauser making their way to the arena off Bus One. (Scott Wachter / USA Today)
All the shenanigans help distract from the fact they are putting in the work, only to spend most of it on the bench during games.
For players like Griffin or Pritchard, who have deep playoff experience, it can be frustrating. For players like Hauser and Kornet, who have been in and out of the rotation, it’s hard not to feel they belong out there.
“It helps you loosen up a little bit, understanding that you can’t take yourself too seriously all the time,” Hauser said. “There’s room for loosening up, having fun, showing your true character and being around guys who can do the same.”
Setting the tone is Griffin, the former star who has found a second life as a hustling role player off the bench. Coach Joe Mazzulla has lauded him as a source of energy and consistency for the team in times of need, and Griffin has embraced the chance to be a locker-room leader.
There were several times earlier this season when Griffin made comments about how Boston’s locker room has been a step up from his time in Brooklyn. Spending his days on Bus One has been a big part of that experience and given him time to be there for young players seeking advice.
“I came here for a reason,” Griffin said. “I know that there’s gonna be games where I don’t play, there’s gonna be stretches where I do play. So just making sure everybody else’s energy is good and high. I guess that’s a recipe for enjoying what you do.”
The main thing the Bus One Boys came back to is that the ride to the game is usually quiet on most teams. Everyone has their headphones on, trying to find some solitude before locking in at the arena. Not on this one. This group doesn’t stop talking from the time they take their seats until they are lacing up their shoes.
“Some days are better than others for guys,” Griffin said. “Just coming in and bringing energy and talking to everybody and getting everybody going, I think, is an important part of being a vet that’s been through — where I’m at in my career, things don’t affect me as much.”
si4ci7
Super wholesome article. Can’t believe Kornet wrote a whole ass parody song and performed it…actually I definitely believe that.
SquimJim
Such a wholesome article with kind of a sad ending
Now I feel bad for Justin Jackson
I also never want to trade any of these guys. We just can’t break them up
15 Comments
Such a fun piece
Can someone post the non paywall version TYFYS
Anyone with a way to get past rhat paywall
FUCK YES BUS 1 BOYZ
We need to have custom championship shirts for the Bus One Boys honestly
Blake and Luke seem like such good teammates. I hope we have them back next year.
The vibes are immaculate
I need a video of Kornet’s Bus 1 Boys Uptown Girl remix
Fucking love this team
This makes me very happy.
the vibes man…. the vibes…
>“I feel like my vocabulary’s pretty good. I’ve been able to keep up with Luke’s academia. He’s a very smart dude and he definitely has those words, but I feel like I’ve kept up. If not, I’m (whispering to my phone), ‘Hey, Siri.’”
theathletic.com
A peek inside with the Celtics’ Bus One Boys: ‘You see some weird stuff’
Jared Weiss
14 – 18 minutes
As a veteran in this league, Blake Griffin understands the importance of following rules. They are the fabric of our society, the thin line that separates us from anarchy. In his role as a locker room sage, he must lead by example to ensure his team’s prosperity.
Yet when the Boston Celtics were visiting Los Angeles in December and Griffin was staying at his house instead of the team hotel in Beverly Hills, he could have done his own thing and taken his time driving his favorite car to park in his old Clippers spot in the bowels of the arena.
He gets his pregame routine in later than most of his teammates. He can pull up at his convenience.
So why was he standing outside the team hotel hours early for the game, stepping onto the first bus to the arena? Well, he had to uphold his duties as the de facto president of the Bus One Boys, an exclusive group of players tied together by an indelible bond.
“Yeah, that’s pretty much the only rule: Be on bus one,” Griffin told The Athletic. “If you don’t do that, your membership can be put up at the next fake meeting that never happens.”
Bus One is a particular crew on each team across the NBA, typically comprising of players at the end of the bench whose pregame workout timeslots tend to be the earliest. As the Celtics face the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs this week, it’s likely you won’t see many of them play meaningful minutes. But they are still playing a role and maintaining the foundation of the positive locker room culture that will be tested throughout the postseason.
Their “meetings” take place on the first bus to the game from the hotel when the team is on the road, consisting of the bench players, an assortment of coaches and team staffers. The Bus One Boys, as they have named themselves, consists of Griffin, Luke Kornet, Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard, as well as Justin Jackson and Noah Vonleh before they were traded earlier this season.
Guest appearances often include two-way players Mfiondu Kabengele and JD Davison, deadline acquisition Mike Muscala and sometimes even Jaylen Brown when he’s getting in some early work. To gain official membership in the group, a player has to follow one simple rule.
“We’ll allow guys in perfectly fine and they’re always welcome. But if you violate the Bus One code — which is basically just not being on (the bus) — that’s really it,” Kornet said. “The only pillar is participation and attendance.”
The bus can be a hostile place for those in the group when they mess up. It creates a facetious sense of fear, according to Kornet, that ensures they’re holding each other accountable as much on the bus as they are on the court. So nobody was surprised in L.A. when Griffin pulled up.
“That’s true dedication. A good teammate right there,” Hauser said. “Loyal Bus One member. Wouldn’t have expected anything less of him.”
Dedication was the word that kept coming up when talking to the Bus One Boys. It’s a half-joke, a recognition that while everything is fun, it does mean something for them to all be together.
“Nobody was missing the bus ever, and sometimes the best part of our days was just getting on the bus and talking on the way there,” Griffin said. “Especially when you stay at home, you don’t want to feel like you’re missing anything. You don’t want to be a distraction that way. So I opted into that.”
Wait, from the Bus One Boys or the actual team?
“From the Bus One Boys,” he said. “Well… for both.”
Bus One Boys Blake Griffin, left, Payton Pritchard, center, and Justin Jackson head into the arena. (Scott Wachter / USA Today)
Griffin didn’t skip the bus. He knew the consequences.
They already had to deal with one straggler earlier in the year when Vonleh’s shooting time was moved back and he took a later bus to the arena. That did not go over well.
“You gotta let us know if you’re not gonna be on the bus,” Hauser said.
Sometimes situations arise and you have to break the Bus One code, but these things can’t be done on a whim. The problem wasn’t missing the bus, but not properly disclosing his absence.
“It was a very intervention-style emotional support group. No tissues, just vulnerability,” Hauser said. “Just let us know or just be on time for the bus. Pretty simple.”
The message was clear: Formally announce your scheduled leave in the Bus One Boys group chat or face administrative action.
“That started like, ‘OK, your Bus One Boys’ credentials are in question,’” Justin Jackson said. “Obviously all jokes, but basically just see where his head was at, if he was really about the Bus One life still or if he had moved on from that. But needless to say, from that point on, he was always on Bus One.”
Then there was the time Pritchard got to the arena so early that he took an Uber before his teammates even gathered for the bus at the team hotel.
“We’re a pretty welcoming group, but if you have permanent status, then we’re a very harsh group,” Kornet said.
But what makes the Bus One Boys, besides, you know, being on the bus? It features everything from existential discussions to sarcastic debates over innocuous curiosities.
“Throughout the year, we crack jokes, we quote movies, we have a very dry sense of humor,” Hauser said. “It’s just fun and good energy before you get to the arena, where you have to lock in.”
Griffin said they love to play “Would you rather?” games to get to know one another or just wander down rabbit holes of random questions.
Occasionally it’s fascinating, usually it’s silly.
“Some things that can’t be on record, for sure,” Pritchard said when asked for his favorite bus moment of the season.
For some of the players, it’s the topic of conversation. For others, it’s just the vibe of hanging out together.
“Early on one time I got on the bus and Sam and Luke were like, ‘Yeah!’ and I was like, ‘YEAH!’ and all the guys back there were just like, ‘YEEAAAHHH!’” Griffin said. “Then you turn around and all the coaches are like what the hell is going on back there? It’s just like that. That’s the energy. Have fun.”
There is even an official Bus One Boys theme song, a remix of Billy Joel’s “Uptown Girl.” According to Hauser, they were singing “Uptown Girl” on Bus One when inspiration hit Kornet. He will often quietly sing to himself in the locker room, but this time he was putting on a show.
After a rousing response from his audience, he decided to start writing a full theme song.
“We’ve got a couple stanzas that can probably use a little more polishing,” Kornet said.
But what prompted Kornet to come up with the song?
“Boredom,” Kornet said. “The creative mind needs to flourish.”
He said it took him 10 minutes on one bus ride to put it together, then he started serenading his crew for a little onboard entertainment.
“He’s got a beautiful voice. We heard him when he did it on the bus and he’s been tweaking it, so I’ve heard enough to know it’s heavenly,” Griffin said. “One bus ride he was particularly quiet and then he had some lyrics, so maybe that’s when he wrote it.”
Kornet is the imaginative hub of the Bus One Boys, essentially an English professor moonlighting as an NBA player. From his Kornet Kontests to somehow pulling off using the word “phlegmatic” on media day, there is hardly anything about Kornet that seems conventional in the NBA.
“(Kornet) said, ‘A fortuitous bounce’ on the bench tonight, and Fi (Kabengele) goes, ‘What’s that mean?’” Griffin said as he keeled over laughing after a late March game. “I feel like my vocabulary’s pretty good. I’ve been able to keep up with Luke’s academia. He’s a very smart dude and he definitely has those words, but I feel like I’ve kept up. If not, I’m (whispering to my phone), ‘Hey, Siri.’”
The Celtics’ Luke Kornet, left, and Sam Hauser making their way to the arena off Bus One. (Scott Wachter / USA Today)
All the shenanigans help distract from the fact they are putting in the work, only to spend most of it on the bench during games.
For players like Griffin or Pritchard, who have deep playoff experience, it can be frustrating. For players like Hauser and Kornet, who have been in and out of the rotation, it’s hard not to feel they belong out there.
“It helps you loosen up a little bit, understanding that you can’t take yourself too seriously all the time,” Hauser said. “There’s room for loosening up, having fun, showing your true character and being around guys who can do the same.”
Setting the tone is Griffin, the former star who has found a second life as a hustling role player off the bench. Coach Joe Mazzulla has lauded him as a source of energy and consistency for the team in times of need, and Griffin has embraced the chance to be a locker-room leader.
There were several times earlier this season when Griffin made comments about how Boston’s locker room has been a step up from his time in Brooklyn. Spending his days on Bus One has been a big part of that experience and given him time to be there for young players seeking advice.
“I came here for a reason,” Griffin said. “I know that there’s gonna be games where I don’t play, there’s gonna be stretches where I do play. So just making sure everybody else’s energy is good and high. I guess that’s a recipe for enjoying what you do.”
The main thing the Bus One Boys came back to is that the ride to the game is usually quiet on most teams. Everyone has their headphones on, trying to find some solitude before locking in at the arena. Not on this one. This group doesn’t stop talking from the time they take their seats until they are lacing up their shoes.
“Some days are better than others for guys,” Griffin said. “Just coming in and bringing energy and talking to everybody and getting everybody going, I think, is an important part of being a vet that’s been through — where I’m at in my career, things don’t affect me as much.”
Super wholesome article. Can’t believe Kornet wrote a whole ass parody song and performed it…actually I definitely believe that.
Such a wholesome article with kind of a sad ending
Now I feel bad for Justin Jackson
I also never want to trade any of these guys. We just can’t break them up