Stevens was “perceived to be harder” on Walker than on the team’s other players, criticizing Walker for his defensive mistakes, according to Weiss.
The dysfunction in the locker room was reportedly so bad at one point this season that a player told Blake Griffin to not join the Celtics when he was a free agent.
The Celtics ended the Kemba Walker-era on Friday, shipping him to the Thunder along with a first-round pick for Al Hoford and Moses Brown.
Walker, who signed a four-year, $141 million deal with the Celtics in 2019, got off on the right foot at the start of his time in Boston.
When the season resumed in July after the pandemic shutdown, Walker was placed on a minutes restriction due to the knee injury.
Following the Celtics’ Eastern Conference Finals lost to the Heat, Walker received a stem cell injection in his left knee that kept him out for the first 11 games of the 2020-21 season.