No Subject

                  Brown can feel a weight lifted 

                  By Bob Ryan Globe Staff, Globe Columnist, 10/05/97 

                  Dee Brown is ready. 

                  ''I've been waiting my whole career for a coach like
this,'' he says. ''High
                  school, college, pro. I think I am ideal for his
system. I'm definitely a player
                  who is molded for his system.''

                  The past is past. Some of it was nice and some of it
wasn't, but Dee Brown
                  has no intention of revisiting any of it. He is giving
himself over to Rick Pitino
                  and the Rick Pitino way of doing things. 

                  Creeping up on age 29, he is a Born-Again Ballplayer. 

                  He is also Pitino's first poster boy. 

                  ''What's most important,'' says the man who has been
anointed to bring the
                  Celtics back from the ranks of the living dead, ''is
that everybody sees in the
                  flesh Dee's commitment already. In every NBA camp
today, you will hear
                  the same rhetoric. But here, physically, everyone can
take a look at this guy
                  and he can say, `I've changed.' I expect him to have a
big year, and he
                  expects that as well.''

                  Dee Brown was drafted with a reputation for being the
fastest man east of
                  the Pecos, and as a bonus he also turned out to be the
jumpingest. That was
                  before a serious knee injury and too many trips to the
weight room turned
                  him from a greyhound of a point guard into some sort
of macho off-guard. 

                  Brown weighs 185. Last year he weighed 210. 

                  ''I didn't run or jump the way I used to,'' Brown
confesses. ''And I think
                  carrying all that weight was too much for my back and
joints.''

                  He did it because he decided he needed to be stronger
if he was going to
                  battle the reigning big guards in the NBA. Oh, well,
you know what they say
                  about the road to hell being paved with good
intentions. 

                  Ask Brown about those early days and he'll tell you it
sounds like it was an
                  interesting life. 

                  ''It's all some distant memory,'' he says. ''Like it
happened to somebody
                  else.''

                  The Wellesley arrest incident ... winning the slam
dunk contest ... getting
                  married and divorced ... playing superb basketball in
the 1991 playoffs ...
                  tearing up his knee. How's that for a first 13 months
as a professional? 

                  It's important to understand where Dee Brown was
professionally in
                  October 1991. He was a celebrity by virtue of winning
the NBA Slam Dunk
                  Contest and he was a sensational young prospect by
virtue of solid play on
                  the floor. He was off to a great exhibition season
start in the fall of '91. Larry
                  Bird was telling people that Brown was going to be a
great player,
                  specifically a great point guard. And then he messed
up his knee during a
                  practice at Hellenic College. 

                  ''That injury set me back a long way,'' he
acknowledges. ''It was much more
                  damaging emotionally than physically, because I had a
full recovery. I felt I
                  was right there, that I was on the verge of
everything. All-Star Game, this
                  and that. It took a lot out of me.''

                  He won't say it, but he almost undoubtedly came back
too soon. The Celtics
                  were still a viable team in those days. He wanted to
be involved. There was
                  competition with Brian Shaw, and he wanted to fight
for a job. He just
                  wasn't ready, and he was easily frustrated. 

                  ''I felt cheated,'' he says. ''Me and Reggie [Lewis],
we were going to be the
                  next great NBA backcourt. I felt cheated out of that
position. I felt I had
                  done everything I was supposed to do to get back, but
it just wasn't
                  happening. Maybe it was a wake-up call, but it took me
a couple of years to
                  wake up.''

                  Under Chris Ford, he was getting his time and he did
have his moments. But
                  the M.L. Carr tenure was a particular disaster for
Brown, who saw his time
                  cut back to 24 minutes a game. He was the captain, and
he took a beating
                  two years ago when he said he wanted out of town. Last
year was a
                  washout. He hurt his back, played a mere 21 games, and
might as well have
                  been a PR assistant or a sales rep, for all anyone
cared. 

                  There isn't any doubt that if either Carr or some Mr.
X were coaching the
                  Celtics, Brown would now be elsewhere. But Pitino's
style calls for athletes
                  who can get up and down the floor, who can apply
defensive pressure, and
                  who can spot up and shoot the 3-pointer. That happens
to be the text of the
                  Dee Brown personal ad. On paper, this marriage could
have Steve & Eydie
                  kind of legs. 

                  The home side of Brown's life is already in sync. He
has married again, has
                  fathered two little girls, and in wife Tammy has the
kind of support system a
                  professional athlete often needs. 

                  ''Without her, I don't think I would have gotten
myself in shape like this,''
                  Brown maintains. ''She pushed me out the door to work
out many a day this
                  summer. She would say, `Do you really want to eat
this?' And she is the one
                  who kept me from going completely crazy during the
past two years.''

                  As for the professional side, he is nothing short of
evangelistic. 

                  ''I feel great physically and mentally,'' he reports.
''My career started over
                  again in June. This is a new era for Dee Brown.''

                  History? What history? 

                  ''I read Rick Pitino's book,'' Brown says. ''In it he
talks about the `precious
                  present.' None of us are going to be judged on what we
did in the past,
                  good or bad. All that matters is what we can do for
him now.''

                  Once upon a time, this guy was going to be the next
great player. There is
                  still enough time to get there. 

                  Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. 

                  This story ran on page D01 of the Boston Globe on
10/05/97. 
                  © Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company.