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Globe Article
- Subject: Globe Article
- From: bocelts@scsn.net (R. Bentz Kirby)
- Date: Sun, 18 May 1997 13:01:41 -0400
Hey, where is everybody? Gone to mass? Saying their Hail Mary's? This
article is from the Boston Globe Web site.
URL is:
http://www.boston.com:80/globe/spt/cgi-bin/retrieve.cgi?%2Fglobe%2Fbgc%2F138%2Fspt%2F011
It's about time the bounces went
Celtics' way
By Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Columnist, 05/18/97
Today is Lottery Sunday, perhaps the most important
event in Boston Celtic history since Red Auerbach
drafted Larry Bird 19 years ago.
The Ping-Pong balls are ready, M.L. Carr has his fingers
crossed, and the Celtics have a 36.31 percent chance of
being awarded the No. 1 pick in the 1997 college draft.
No. 1 means the rights to Wake Forest center Tim
Duncan, and all good Celtic fans know that the Green
must have Duncan if they are to compete again in this
century. There is no consolation in the No. 2 pick this
year. In the 1997 NBA Draft, there is Tim Duncan and
there is Not Exactly.
Bird himself, now coach of the Indiana Pacers, said,
``The Celtics had better get him. They're banking on it.
There's a big dropoff after Duncan.''
There is nothing scientific about Boston's lottery
effort.
No game plan, no film viewing, no pregame huddle.
There's nothing the Celtics can do to prepare for the big
event. It's pure dumb luck.
Like any marriage, the Celtics and Lady Luck have had
their ups and downs through the years.
There was a long period during which the Celtics always
seemed to have good luck. From 1950 through '86, the
Celtics enjoyed as much good fortune as any franchise in
the history of sports. Granted, they were good, but they
were also lucky.
In the spring of 1950, Boston had a coaching vacancy
and a young man coaching at Tri-Cities was available.
Sportswriters (those clever sages) convinced Walter
Brown that he should hire Red Auerbach. What luck.
Auerbach came to town and never left.
Of course, Red didn't want the Celtics to draft Holy
Cross hotshot Bob Cousy. The Cooz ended up property
of the Chicago Stags, but the Stags folded. When it came
time to divvy up Chicago's roster, names were put into a
hat and Auerbach drew the name of Cousy. Dumb luck.
Again.
Auerbach got Bill Russell because Rochester's owner
wanted the Ice Capades more than he wanted a
6-foot-9-inch black center from San Francisco. In
exchange for Brown's ice shows, Les Harrison agreed
not to select Russell with the No. 1 pick. Red traded for
the No. 2 pick and got a center who would win 11
championships in 13 seasons.
Even as champions, the Celtics had some luck. In '62,
they beat the Lakers in Game 7 of the finals, but only
after Frank Selvy's wide-open 15-footer somehow rolled
off the rim at the old Garden. In 1969 at the LA Forum,
a lucky bounce of a Don Nelson shot delivered another
title at the expense of the luckless Lakers.
Boston also got lucky with draft picks. John Havlicek
and Jo Jo White should have been long gone when the
Celtics got around to making their first selections. The
Celtics got lucky with trades. They got Nelson off the
waiver wire.
They got lucky when five teams passed on Bird in 1978.
They got lucky when Golden State coveted Joe Barry
Carroll more than Robert Parish or Kevin McHale. They
got lucky when everybody passed on Danny Ainge,
figuring his heart was in baseball.
Dennis Johnson for Rick Robey? What luck!
In the spring of 1986, the Celtics were perhaps more fat
and happy than any team in the history of sports. They'd
just won their 16th world championship with a team that
many consider the best in NBA history. They were
awash in cash and season-ticket applicants. And on top
of everything else, a foresighted two-year-old trade with
Seattle resulted in the championship Celtics adding to
thir
riches with the No. 2 pick in the entire draft.
Then Boston's luck changed. On the morning of June 19,
1986, Len Bias died of cocaine intoxication in a
dormitory room at the University of Maryland.
Almost nothing has gone right since Bias died. Bird got
hurt and had to retire early. Jimmy Rodgers failed as a
head coach. Dave Gavitt came on board with disastrous
results. The Celtics picked Michael Smith ahead of Tim
Hardaway. They couldn't sign Jon Barry. Brian Shaw
sued to leave.
Then came the worst moment in franchise history. Reggie
Lewis dropped dead while shooting baskets at the team's
practice facility.
The bad luck has continued. Dominique Wilkins. Pervis
Ellison. The worst record in team history. At times it
seems as if the franchise has been cursed, starting with
the death of Bias.
The week that Bias died, former Celtic owner Alan
Cohen wrote a letter to then-general manager Jan Volk.
The letter was about hubris. Cohen wrote that Bias's
death reminded him that you can never cease to be
humble. It was as if the higher powers decided that the
Celtics had been too good for too long.
We've had enough humility around here for the last 11
years. Time for the Celtic luck to change. Rick Pitino
should be the start of some good fortune.
Today's lottery will tell us if the Celtics' luck has
changed
or if the curse continues.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist.
This story ran on page d1 of the Boston Globe on
05/18/97.
© Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company.
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