Blast from the past

[Eggcentric@xxxxxxx]

"Chris is the best in the business," Pitino said. "Name a player in Siberia, 
and he'll have 
a line on him. He knows the players. He knows the agents." 

---------------

Wallace has eye for talent
Second-round swap gets GM to Boston

By Mike Szostak, New England Sports Service , 5/97
 
BOSTON -- Chris Wallace, the new general manager of the Celtics, traces his 
pro basketball 
roots to the ashes of the 1986 NBA Draft that produced four disasters among 
the seven lottery 
picks -- the cocaine-related death of Len Bias and the drug-shortened careers 
of Chris Washburn, 
William Bedford and Roy Tarpley -- and a washout at No. 14. 

Portland drafted Walter Berry of St. John's with that pick and got off-court 
problems that 
would contribute to a four-team, three-year career for Berry. 
 
Unhappy with that experience, the Blazers decided to hire someone who knew 
the college 
game inside and out. Enter Wallace, a hoopaholic and founder and editor of 
Blue Ribbon,
 a college basketball pre-season yearbook. 

 "If the Portland Trail Blazers had liked Walter Berry, I don't know if I'd 
be standing here," 
Wallace said yesterday after Rick Pitino had introduced him as general 
manager of the 
Boston Celtics. 
 
Wallace, 38, is among the youngest general managers in the NBA. Kevin McHale 
of 
Minnesota will turn 40 in December. Wallace becomes only the third person 
since 1964 
to hold the Celtics GM title. 

 Red Auerbach was general manager from 1964 to 1984 and Jan Volk from 1984 to 
his 
resignation this month during the bloodless coup that preceded Pitino's 
arrival from 
Kentucky. 
 
Wallace comes to Boston from Miami, where he spent the last four years as the 
Heat's
 director of college and international scouting. He was the first person 
Pitino contacted 
about the job after Miami granted Pitino permission to talk 10 days ago. When 
it looked 
like a deal would not materialize -- Miami, not Wallace, was the problem -- 
Pitino called 
another prospect, who was not interested. Pitino did not name the prospect, 
but he said he 
never talked to P.J. Carlesimo about the position. 

Pitino renewed negotiating with Randy Pfund, Miami's executive vice president 
of player
 personnel, and the Heat eventually agreed to release Wallace for a swap of 
second-round 
draft choices. Miami now owns Boston's pick at No. 30 and Boston has Miami's 
at No. 55. 
 
Wallace signed a three-year contract. 

"Chris is the best in the business," Pitino said. "Name a player in Siberia, 
and he'll have 
a line on him. He knows the players. He knows the agents." 
 
Wallace admits quite readily that he chose the path less traveled to get to 
the Celtics' 
executive suite. He was not a player. A post-graduate year at New Hampton 
Prep in New 
Hampshire, and guarding an opponent from Andover, made him realize that "if I 
were 
going to the next level, I'd have to buy a ticket."  He never had a desire to 
coach. 
 
But a New Hampton class whetted his appetite for writing. Deciding that he 
lacked the 
talent of the national sports writers he admired, and reluctant to spend his 
career as a scribe 
for his hometown paper in Buckhannon, West Va., Wallace launched Blue Ribbon 
in 
1981 after attending the University of Kansas. 

 "I have had an improbable career," Wallace said. "I started 16 years ago 
putting out a 
magazine. I knew nobody. Not one coach. Not one media person." 
 
That was in 1981, the same year that Wallace, scouring a summer tournament in 
Washington, D.C., met Pitino, then the young coach at Boston University. 
Wallace 
remains an unabashed Pitino admirer. 
 "I love his style of play and the way he develops talent," Wallace said. "I 
wanted to 
work on Rick Pitino's team. This is more than just a job promotion or another 
step on the 
career path. Other than the day I got married and the birth of my child 
(Debby Wallace 
gave birth to Truman Spencer on May 17), this is the happiest day of my life. 
To be with 
this organization in this city is off the charts for me. Rick Pitino is the 
coach I want to be 
with. This covers all the bases for me." 
 
Wallace hopes to assist Pitino, Boston's president and head coach, by 
applying the 
lessons he learned from Pat Riley, Miami's president and head coach. 
 
"Pat sets the standard in the coach/president role," Wallace said. Dave Wohl, 
Pfund, 
Wallace and others outline options for Riley, and Riley decides, Wallace 
said. 
 
Wallace's expertise is scouting and analyzing talent, and he intends to 
continue to 
see as many players as possible. He will also rely on Leo Papile, Boston's 
AAU guru, 
and on Pitino's assistant coaches, Jim O'Brien and Winston Bennett. 

"We're going to look under every stone to get players for Rick," he said. 

Pitino's adviser, Rich Avare, now a consultant for the Celtics, will assist 
with the 
salary cap and other contract details. Wallace was reluctant to discuss the 
June draft in 
detail because he has studied prospects from Miami's, not Boston's 
perspective. He said 
it's a weak draft overall, but there will be players at No. 3 and No. 6 when 
Boston picks. 
Pitino said that he is still entertaining trade possibilities and that Boston 
may go into the 
draft without a pick. 
 
"Likely? No. Possible? Yes," he said.