The Celtics and MIT?

[Theresa Lee <tjoyce@MIT.EDU>]

There aren't a lot of ways that MIT and the Celtics are connected, but read
below.  It is a bit weird, this situation.

TJL
                    Walsh and Bird talking

                    By Peter May, Globe Staff, 04/28/97

                    Donnie Walsh said the salmon was quite good. Other than
that, he didn't
                    have much to say last night about his dinner with Larry
Bird.

                    Walsh, the president of the Indiana Pacers, dined with
Bird Saturday
                    night in Indianapolis. On the menu besides the salmon: the
                    presumed-to-be-vacant Indiana head coaching position.

                    ``All I can say is that we spoke, we had dinner
together and it was an
                    excellent night,'' Walsh said.

                    Years from now, professors at MIT will have fun with
this one. Bird, a
                    ``special assistant'' with the Celtics who would like a
more active role
                    with the team, is asked by his owner to draw up a list
of coaches and
                    contact them. One of the coaches he likes is Larry
Brown, the coach of
                    the Pacers. Walsh is Brown's boss.

                    Bird gets permission from Walsh to speak to Brown and
does so. In the
                    meantime, Walsh calls the Celtics and gets permission
from them to
                    speak to Bird.

                    ``If Larry Brown is getting calls about leaving, why
shouldn't I make
                    some calls, too?'' Walsh said.

                    Walsh always has been up front about his interest in
having Bird join the
                    Pacers' franchise. ``I've always said,'' he reiterated
last night, ``that if
                    Larry Bird was available, I'd like to talk to him.''

                    Bird is and they did talk. Someone tipped off an
Indianapolis television
                    station, which got video of Walsh leaving the
restaurant. (Those of us in
                    Boston know that that was after Walsh paid the bill.)

                    ``We didn't leave it anywhere,'' Walsh said. ``It was
just general
                    conversation stuff, about interest, things like that.''

                    Bird told the Globe last month that he was getting
increasingly antsy and
                    wanted to be more involved with the Celtics
organization. He also said
                    he would entertain coaching offers from any team except
the Celtics. He
                    has not been a head coach, or an assistant, at any
level. Walsh said
                    recently he would not hire Bird simply because Bird is
an Indiana
                    legend. ``I would have to be convinced he would be a
head coach,''
                    Walsh said.

                    As for Brown, he was scheduled to meet today with
Celtics owner Paul
                    Gaston, but that has been postponed. Brown is certain
to receive other
                    inquiries - he likely will resign from the Pacers this
week - and some of
                    those jobs may be more enticing than the one in Boston.
The 76ers also
                    have asked for permission to speak to Brown, and there
could be further
                    interest from Golden State and the Clippers, although
those teams still
                    have coaches in place.


tjoyce@mit.edu