My on Bird Resurrecting The Celtics

[Way Of The Ray <wayray@ix.netcom.com>]

Peter May 
Boston Globe - 4/16/00


''One thing that's left to do that really intrigues me is to be able to
put a team together. That would be fun.'' - Larry Bird


Is he sending us signals again? In February, Larry Bird let it be known
he could, and would, put together a group to buy the Celtics in a
nanosecond. It took a nanosecond for that idea to bomb, but the always
calculating Bird lit a flame of sorts.


Now, he's finishing up his third year coaching the Pacers. He insists
there won't be a fourth. He's insistent there is nothing else on his
plate. He has a chance to move into the front office and build a team
where he is. He doesn't want to.


Or, we should say, he doesn't want to do it there.


In a recent interview with the Globe's Bob Ryan, Bird offered some
read-between-the-lines observations that seem to indicate he knows what
he wants to do. He wants to put a team together? Where else would he do
it but in Boston?


Retirement in Naples? C'mon. He doesn't want to go back there and live
the life of the Florida squire. Been there, done that. He said as much
in the interview. He says three years is enough for a coach, exempting
two people: Pat Riley and Jerry Sloan. (You may have noted which coach
is missing from that list.)


The only conclusion we can draw from this - Larry is not the type to
come out and say what he really wants - is it's time for Bird to come
back to Boston and run the Celtics. He may be a Hoosier by birth, but
he's a Celtic by blood. Could it happen? Why not? Yes, there would have
to be accommodations on all fronts, starting with Bird's relationship
with the Celtics' chairman of the board.


Bird has not been a fan of Paul Gaston and has said so, both in recent
oeuvre and in comments about buying the team. Then again, we know from
the present situation that being buddies with the owner is not a
prerequisite for the job. Gaston is, above all else, a businessman. He
cannot like what he sees right now from a business standpoint: empty
seats, no playoffs, and a payroll significantly higher than a number of
playoff teams.


Bringing Bird back is a business no-brainer. Yes, Bird would inevitably
be judged by the product on the floor, but he has shown to be a pretty
good judge of talent and chemistry. Gaston and Bird would have to bury
their respective hatchets for the good of the franchise.


The second impediment would be Rick Pitino. He and Bird could not work
in tandem. That much we know. Pitino's contract calls for the final say
in all basketball matters. But he also has to run these decisions by
Gaston. Who's to say that Bird couldn't be hired as a consultant to the
owner? Or as the owner's adviser? Or as the owner's receptionist? As
long as he had Gaston's ear - and Gaston agreed to listen.


Sure, there are obstacles. There always are when there are egos at
stake. But I believe it was Pitino who first said, ''The ends justify
the means.'' The Celtics are defined mostly by utter apathy. Only when
Mt. St. Pitino erupts does the team get any face time. Bird wants to put
a team together. We don't think he was referring to Vancouver. There's
no time - or place - like the present