Idle Thoughts, while waiting for high school football, rain to cancel all July 4 fireworks shows and for Daniel Jones' impending MVP candidacy:

• Dr. Idle, Dr. I to his close friends, was not in need of grief counseling upon learning the Celtics traded Kemba.

We get it. It's sacrilege to criticize St. Kemba of Walker here in UConn country. But let Dr. I get this off his chest:

The Celtics won game three in the Nets series. Down 2-1. Game four: The Garden full for the first time in more than a year. Anti-Kyrie sentiments. Big game feel.

And Kemba Walker, who played game three, was too hurt to play in the biggest game of the season?

Sorry. Dr. I watched McHale limp his way through the playoffs many times, especially in 1987 against the detestable Pistons. Dr. I watched Larry get his face bounced off the parquet once and he returned to play five minutes later. Chief played hurt. Pierce played hurt. You think Garnett would have missed that game?

As Michael Jordan once said: "My body could stand the crutches, but my mind couldn't stand the sideline."

Bottom line: Dr. I doesn't want a point guard here with a glass jaw. Don't let the doorknob leave a lasting impression.

• Best thing Dr. I has read in a while: Erica Moser's recent piece about Critical Race Theory here in the ol' Day Paper. Thorough and insightful. Read it. You might learn something.

• Not that Dr. I wants to make a habit of this, but fair is fair:

Mad props and bon mots to the Red Sox the other night for the Dustin Pedroia farewell. Really well done.

OK. Now back to hating them.

• Pet peeve: Dogs do not belong in eating establishments (unless it's a service dog). Otherwise, you may think your doggy is just breathtakingly adorable. Dr. I doesn't. Stay out.

• Twitter question the other day: Name the two female vocalists you consider having the best voices of all time.

Dr. I says Ella Fitzgerald and Linda Ronstadt. How about you?

• Social event of the season coming this week: the marriage of Rob Bono and (Elena Delle Donne look-a-like) Rachel Greene. Two of Dr. I's favorites. Here's wishing them a lifetime of happiness.

• To reiterate: a salute to NFA boys' basketball coach Dave Cornish and New London football coach Johnny Burns for their efforts in coordinating summer leagues. The kids need the extra time now more than ever.

• Has the Travelers started?

• The next time the Yankees get a guy in from third with fewer than two outs, look for Dr. I to break into his best Fred G. Sanford.

"Elizabeth! This is the big one! I'm comin' to join ya, honey!"

• RIP, Jim Fassel. Maybe the most underrated coach the Giants ever had. (Playoffs three times, two division titles, one Super Bowl appearance in seven years). Met him once by happenstance on vacation. Walked out of the elevator and there he was. Approved of my Giants shirt and then found us in the hotel bar later.

• Dr. I officially acknowledges lacrosse as a sport now that the BC Eagles are the women's national champions.

• Many thanks to all ECC athletic directors who are starting their football games at 6 p.m. this fall. (Helps with our deadlines).

• No sob stories here for N.C. State baseball. The players in question made a choice not to get vaccinated and imperil the season for their teammates.

The blame lies with the players and the coaches/administrators who allowed it to happen.

Now your season is over. Your choice. Your fault. Your responsibility.

There is no blaming science, Dr. Fauci or any other strawmen the anti-vaxxer crowd perpetuates.

It's a shot in the arm. Not a catheter.

This is the opinion of Day sports  columnist Mike DiMauro