Globe on Dee

[Gregory Odegaard <grodeg@kalama.com>]

I know someone else reported earlier on the special column in the Globe by Dan Shaughnessy about the trading of Dee Brown.  This is a very important piece of writing for a Celtic fan.  Mr. Shaughnessy has written many great books about Boston sports lore, they are all great.  His Evergreen about the Celtics history is must reading about the team.  It was mentioned earlier about all the great team related books.  For anyone who wants a copy it available by mail through Barnes and Noble web site, at BarnesandNoble.com (I think that is the address).  It is less than 10 bucks.  His new book about Fenway is great as is his last before this on Red.  For fear of abusing any rules hear is the column.
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No frame of reference without Brown around 

By Dan Shaughnessy, Globe Columnist, 02/19/98 


 Pitino continues movin' and shakin', shuckin' and jivin'. We know never to believe anything the man says, but you've got to like any trade that includes both Popeye and Roy Rogers. As long as Little Ricky can still pull the Trigger. 

I will leave it to others to do the teeth-gnashing about a wasted No. 3 pick and Kenny Anderson's place in the pro basketball universe. What strikes me about this deal is the subtraction of Dee Brown. 

This may not be important to anybody else, but Dee Brown was the last Celtic player with any institutional memory of the Green Team. He was the last Celtic who knew what Red Auerbach means. He was the last Celtic to have played with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish. He was the last Celtic who saw Reggie Lewis collapse in a heap against Charlotte. And unless you count out-of-service Pervis Ellison and deadbeat Greg Minor, he was the last Celtic who knew what it was like to play in the old Boston Garden. 

Dee Brown was the last guy playing for the Celtics who had his name announced by Johnny Most. He was a Celtic when Dave Gavitt actually worked for a living. He played with Dennis Johnson. He practiced at Hellenic College. 

Yikes. The trading of Brown makes Ellison and Minor the Celtic seniors in terms of continuous service. Both began their Boston careers in 1994-95. Both played (sort of) for Chris Ford. What a pair of unworthy veterans. 

Brown was the 19th pick in the 1990 draft, Gavitt's first major move. He wound up being one of the top five rookies in the NBA and made a name for himself when he won the slam-dunk competition in his inaugural season. 

He was a mini-celebrity after winning the jamfest, but things only got better in the spring of 1991. Go back and look at the tape of the Celtics' final playoff loss in the spring of 1991 against the Pistons at Auburn Hills, Mich. Brown was the best Celtic on the floor. He went 4 feet off the ground to block a shot by Isiah Thomas. He was never better. 

He was on his way to becoming an All-Star, scoring more than 20 points a game in the 1991 exhibition season, when a freak knee injury sidelined him and put his career in the breakdown lane. Brown was never the same player after that. 

Some thought it was because he could never decide whether to be a point guard or a shooting guard. Some thought it was because he couldn't defend the big guards. Some thought he was too content. Some thought he got too heavy later in his career. 

Whatever. He never became the player we thought he'd be after his rookie season. He got the John Stephens, Walt Dropo disease that mysteriously affects certain Boston pro athletes (may Nomar Garciaparra be spared). 

There were some unhappy moments. His first marriage went up in flames, quite publicly. He had his captaincy stripped when he asked to be traded. Fans felt he should be happy making the large money. But he did nothing to disgrace the uniform in an era when wealthy pro athletes continuously disappoint. 

We should have known there was something special about Brown when he politely underreacted to his false arrest in Wellesley during his rookie season. An angry, insecure man could have cried racism and demanded badges from Wellesley cops. But Brown was never like that. He forgave the sorry episode as an innocent mistake and defended our city against blanket charges of racism levied by folks who've never been here. 

Dee Brown played with Larry Bird who played with Cedric Maxwell who played with John Havlicek who played with Bill Russell. Naturally, it can be said that Antoine Walker played with Dee Brown, but somehow it feels as if now the chain is broken. Dee was the last link. 

So bring on the cheerleaders. Let the Celtic ballplayers wear white sneakers if they want. Cut up the parquet and let Thanksdad use it for kindling. Snuff out Red's cigar. 

Dee Brown is gone. Celtic tradition today goes back no farther than Greg Minor, and that's not such a good thing. 

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. 


This story ran on page D07 of the Boston Globe on 02/19/98.