Hey y'all, I think that I'm still in shock and recovery mode after such a sweet, sweet title run by the Boston Celtics. It's been so much so that I still can't truly find the right words to explain the way I feel now and how the series went. I couldn't have asked for any more, and the joy that I feel right now is (almost) equal to the feeling I had during October of 2004 when the RedSox broke the 86 year-old curse and won the World Series for the first time since 1918.
Now I will readily admit that the Red Sox October triumph was an earth shattering event that was (and still is) unbelievable, but hear me out for a moment about this year's NBA Champion Boston Celtics team. First, you must remember that the Celtics hadn't won the title until last Tuesday in my lifetime*. *They won in 1986, and returned to the Finals in 1987 only to lose toLos Angeles , but I was a baby and have absolutely no recollection. Essentially, I waited longer and endured more pain and anguish over the Celtics than I had to over the RedSox, so it's easy to see why the feelings are similar.
Secondly, you must also remember that despite 86 years of heartbreak and frustration, the Red Sox were mostly contenders during my childhood, and at least always had a squad that was sufficient to keep them close enough to contend for the playoffs nearly every year (we ended up getting skunked every year too, but at least we were there). The Celtics, to put it mildly, did not. The RedSox always had stars, even when they were struggling with names Mo Vaughan, Pedro Martinez, Nomar Garciaparra, Roger Clemens, Tom Gordon, Derek Lowe that kept me interested and excited about the Red Sox's prospects.
The Celtics? They were largely irrelevant for the majority of my childhood, enduring the tragedies of Len Bias' and Reggie Lewis' deaths as well as the RickPitino era (drafted Antoine Walker ahead of Steve Nash, Jermaine O'Neal and KOBE BRYANT!!!!!!!, Pitino also traded away Chauncey Billups AND Joe Johnson). Sure, I had fun watching Dee Brown rain three-pointers, but the Celtics were just plain awful for a long, long time. Even when the Celtics made a deep playoff run in 2002 (reaching the Eastern Conference Finals and losing to New Jersey), their brand of basketball wasn't that fulfilling or exciting. At best, that Celtics team was just slightly less crummy than everyone else in the Eastern Conference, and even back then I was able to recognize how truly mediocre the Celtics were.
Up until this year, the Celtics played like a bunch of guys just trying to get theirs. Sure, they wanted to win, but the team chemistry and identity wasn't there. It was either Pierce shooting, or Walker wiggling after jacking up another chest pass three-pointer, or else it was me cringing about who was going to take the shot (I'd close my eyes, cross my fingers, and hope to hear TommyHeinsohn scream "I love Walter [McCarty]!"). The Celtics were mired in a purgatory that was cruel and frustrating, having just enough talent to contiunally sneak into the bottom of the playoff bracket, but never being good enough to advance or make a run.
While it was semi-exciting to see the Celtics in the postseason (though it mostly made me sad for the NBA playoff structure, a team with a losing record gets to play in the postseason?!? You must be kidding!), by doing o, the Celtics sunk their chances of grabbing another elite young player to really help them get over the top and ascend to true contender status.
'Toine got traded, resigned, and traded again (amen!), and the Celtics became all about Paul Pierce shouldering 100% of the load and the team lived and died by his offensive output. I always loved and respected Pierce's abilities as a player, but I found that I preferred to watch the great teams of the NBA, contenders who were balanced and shared the ball to win games. That kind of basketball (you know, with passing, defense and more assists than turnovers per game) was exciting and refreshing to watch, much more so than the isolation-cross-over-one-on-five style that the Celtics were forced to play for a long time. That's why I loved (and still do) teams like the Spurs and Suns, who were balanced and played as collective units to win games, rather than simply jumping on the back of their superstar player and letting them steal the show.
Phoenix, in particular, was one of my favorites to watch, though I enjoyed them for more than just the flashy offense that rained threes like it was February in Portland. They were just different than everybody else in the NBA, because instead of having their best player take all of the shots, they passed the ball, trusting their teammates to make the play and relying on everybody to contribute to a win. In the post-Jordan era of the NBA, that selfless style was almost counterintuitive (though it worked so well for a time), and ultimately, the Suns suffered because they couldn't just send Nash into the lane and to the charity stripe 20 times per game. But their style of ball was special, and when it was working, the hair stood up on the back of my neck every time somebody made the extra pass or set up a teammate and then the shooter knocked it down with confidence. It infected everybody on the team and changed the way they played together (the Suns are also an example of how delicate the balance of chemistry and egos can be).
That's why this year's team was such a breath of fresh air for Boston basketball fans. This year's Celtics played defense, shared the ball and trusted each other from top to bottom (ok, nobody trusts Scalabrine to make a shot, but still, you get the point). The excitement was back, it came in with enthusiasm and a distinct tingling of hope that crept into the hearts of basketball fans everywhere in New England (and beyond). Even from the very beginning, seeing Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen beaming with smiles as they held up their jerseys at the inaugural press conference last summer, you could tell that all three were foaming at the mouth for an opportunity to make a deep playoff run.
Being the superstitious and pessimistic Boston fan that I am (yes, we win titles now, but old habits die hard), I chose to muffle my urge to squeal like a giddy school girl until I was sure that the Celtics would really be there at the end of the long and arduous NBA season to hedge against getting too disappointed if and when the Celtics lost in the Playoffs. Hell, I even bet on San Antonio to repeat as champions (god damn you, Ray Utech!) in an effort to appease my crazy superstitions (short story: I bet on the Rams in Superbowl XXXVI, it's become a semi-tradition since then to bet against my own team).
Try as I might to squelch my own excitement, I couldn't help but grin nearly every time I watched the Celtics take the floor. I can distinctly remember watching the very first game of the season, in which the Celtics dismantled the Washington WIzards 103-83 in front of a raucous home crowd. It wasn't just that they won by 20 points, it was the way in which the Celtics won, by playing defense and being selfless on offense. Nobody forced shots, nobody tried to take on the entire defense alone, and everybody was passing the ball. Additionally, you could see that KG was feeding off of the crowd, the other Celtics were feeding off of him, and everybody was in tune and on the same page mentally. I had never seen that in a Celtics team before, and the thoughts of some of the Celtic performances from this year (January 2nd vs. Houston in Boston, for one) still give me chills to this day.
Not only was this Celtics team a great squad to root for because of the hometown ties, but they also were focused on playing basketball at the highest level and made it a habit to put winning ahead of individual accolaides each and every day. I've always been able to appreciate good basketball no matter what color jerseys the players are wearing, but it was very special to be able to see my own squad doing those things so well and raising the level of their game each day.
Because of this new found level of maturity (in the Celtics and in myself as well), this year's championship run has been all the more enjoyable to watch and experience. The Celtics were driven, hungry and determined to win the right way. It would have been so easy to let egos dominate and dissolve into infighting, but the Celtics put their faith in eachother, as well as in Doc Rivers' system, and in the end, they were vindicated.
And oh how they were vindicated! The 39 point thrashing of the Lakers in game six was a loud and clear message to every other NBA team, player, coach, columnist and talking head that the 2008 BOston Celtics were for real. Though they struggled against Atlanta and Cleveland, the Celtics have forever silenced all of their critics, and in the process humbled nearly everyone with an opinion and a voice loud enough to be heard (something that I took a sick level of pleasure in). Playing their best game of the entire season against a team with the best player and best coach from the best conference, the Celtics showed just how far selfless, defense oriented team basketball can take you and dominated the game from the opening tip until the final buzzer.
Hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy high in the Garden absolved every loss, mental lapse and disappointment that the Celtics and their fans have suffered since the late 1980s. Teamwork, sacrifice, and defense triumphed over the individual talents of the NBA's brightest stars and made the gap between a team like the Lakers (and the facade of Kobe as a team player) and the Celtics glaringly obvious and bluntly illustrated just how far behind the Celtics the rest of the NBA is.
I first said in 2004 that no matter what, I'd die happy because I was alive and watching when the Red Sox made the most improbable and fantastic comeback in all of sports and won the 2004 World Series, but after witnessing an equally improbable season long turnaround that was punctuated in such a glorious manner, I now truly believe that I can and will die happy after witnessing this miracle on the parquet floor.
Though the years of agony and frustration were considerably fewer for the Celtics' championship drought, their incredible run was made all the more special for me as a fan because of its novelty. As this was the first serious championship run for the Celtics during my lifetime (or at least the part of my life that I can remember), it was overwhelming and unexpected, and as a result of their convincing win, all the more satisfying.
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