Re: Reggie Lewis/Cedric Maxwell

[Elgin W Booth <ewbooth@cisunix.unh.edu>]

Reggie played in one all-star game, alhtough he had the stats and
leadership to have been selected to 3 or 4. He was snubbed quite a bit.I
really think you guys forget how good he truly was. I can't comment on
Maxwell (a little bit before my time), but Reggie was on his way to being
one of the all-time Celtic greats. I think Reggie would have been an
Olympic Team member in 1996 and one of the top 10 players in the NBA if
not first team All-NBA.

On Wed, 1 Mar 2000 opi@unesco.org wrote:

> Hi:
> 
> Back when Maxwell played, there seemed to be an unwritten policy that
> you had to be a career Celtics "lifer" to get your uniform number
> retired, unless you were a Hall of Famer like Ed McCauley. Since that
> time, DJ and Parish have seen their numbers retired despite ending their
> careers elsewhere. I think Maxwell (along with Ainge to a lesser degree)
> just kind of got lost in the shuffle.
> 
> Also, as far as I know, Maxwell never played in any All Star game (I'm
> not sure Reggie Lewis did either, though).
> 
> I'm very much in favor of Maxwell receiving this honor. I actually felt
> that he deserved to be the NBA Finals MVP in 1984 (along with 1981). He
> was much more consistent shooting the ball than Bird in that series and
> also came up big in the end. Additionally, he played a critical role in
> getting the Celts past the Sixers in 1981 (the pre-Finals).
> 
> Lately the Celts reshuffled front office is into all kinds of basically
> contrived Fleet Center gimmicks (Russell night, Red Auerbach night,
> Parquet night, Vitaly barber night). A Maxwell retirement is an event
> that would be appreciated by a lot of fans who go to games. I'm sure at
> least Kevin McHale and KC Jones would be happy to attend.
> 
> ****
> 
> Amy Beauregard wrote:
> 
> > Hey everyone,
> >
> > I wasn't trying to start a controversy. I received a
> > bunch of emails about this. Reggie's number was
> > retired for the wrong reason. My personal belief was
> > that it was a total PR move by the C's. At the time of
> > his death, there was a lot of finger pointing: at the
> > C's (how could they push him like that?), the Doctors
> > (how could they clear him?), Reggie (Did he or didn't
> > he?) and his widow. It was a lousy time and the C's
> > announced they'd retire his number. Well intentioned,
> > but how many championships did he contribute to? Ok,
> > since the answer his none, what were his career
> > totals? Unfortunately, we'll never know, since he was
> > cut down entering his prime. He was really coming into
> > his own. Derrick Coleman was too at that time and he
> > turned out to be a stiff. Reggie might have been
> > traded, retired or whatever. He might have improved
> > significantly. We will never know, although I am
> > fairly certain he would not have led the C's to a
> > title.
> >
> > What I do know is that Max played a big part in
> > leading the C's to two titles. He was the 81 Finals
> > MVP and dominated the Lakers in game 7 of the 84
> > Finals. He was hurt the next year and was in Red's
> > doghouse for not coming back hard/fast enough. He was
> > dumped to the Clips for Walton, who was the key to the
> > 16th title. What we do know is Max was a huge factor
> > in the early 80s success and the scary thing was he
> > sacrificed his offense so Larry/Kevin could get
> > theirs. I don't know how Red feels about him, but I
> > think that the time has come to retire #31.
> > __________________________________________________
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