Re: Bird and Front Office??

[Hironaka <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

    In case someone else hasn't posted this, Larry Bird says he has no
ambition to buy the Celtics and has not watched a Celts game this year
or followed the team (he follows the Pacers). Man, this has just been
the cruelest month to be a Celtics and Red Sox fan, with nothing but
this kind of news. I'm thinking hey at least Paul Pierce didn't respond
to the point blank Garry Miller drug-use question on "Up Close" by
sparking up a massive spliff and passing it around the room. Something
needs to happen to break this negative momentum. I'm going nuts over
here, thinking about my two favorite teams.

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C's price not for the Bird
Celtics Notebook/by Steve Bulpett
Wednesday, March 14, 2001

LOS ANGELES - Larry Bird was laughing this week when he said he and a
group were ``about $350 million short'' of buying the Celtics. But he
wasn't joking.

While a sale of the Celts has been widely discussed in ``when'' - not
``if'' - terms in the media, the fact remains that Paul Gaston is not
looking to move the club.

When it was reported last November in the Herald that a buyer of
substance (a previous NBA owner, it has since been learned) had inquired
about the club through intermediaries, the price he was given was $330
million.

Celtic chief operating officer Rich Pond did not confirm that, but he
did add a telling remark.

``If the price you heard is that high, there's a reason for it,'' Pond
said. ``And the reason is that the team's not for sale.''

Responding to reporters at the Larry Bird Masters Golf Tournament, a
charity event near his Naples, Fla., home that benefits a local hospice,
the Shamrock legend shot down talk of a move back to the NBA and the
Celts.

``There's been rumors and a lot of talk that I've got a group together
to buy the team,'' he was quoted as saying in the Naples Daily News.
``We're really close. We're about $350 million short.''

Bird accompanied the latter remark with laughter, adding, ``In the next
400 years, the Celtics will be in my hands. I spent a lot of time in
Boston. Right now, I have no ambition of going back.''

Larry said he is enjoying retirement and has ``no plans'' to move from
Florida. ``I like Naples,'' he said Monday, 16 years to the day after he
set the Celtic record with 60 points in a win over Atlanta in New
Orleans. ``I like the weather.''

On the other hand, Bird has said that he and his family plan to settle
some day in the Boston area. It was also reported in the Herald in early
February that Bird and Gaston have spoken this year and that the two are
not the mortal enemies they have been portrayed as.

At that time, Pond also said the door would be open if Bird wanted to
discuss a role in the Celtic organization. Pond said yesterday he knew
of no talks of late along those lines, but it is well known the club
does still plan to hire a director of basketball operations.

Bird, however, told reporters he is keeping tabs on the Pacers - the
team he coached the last three years and that is now in a fight with
Boston for the last Eastern Conference playoff spot - but he said he
isn't following the Celtic fortunes much.

``I haven't watched them (Celtics) play one game this year,'' he said.
``I still read a lot about the Indiana Pacers. They've been struggling
as of late, but I think they've got a lot of talent there to get in the
playoffs.''

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