Five years ago,the Celtics took the 15 minute bus ride from their Miami hotel, here toAmerican Airlines Arena. The same ridewe took tonight. It was the final roadgame of one of the worst seasons in Celtics history. 58 losses, an 18-game losing streak and noreal signs of the clouds parting. Hoursearlier, 32 people were killed in a senseless, mindless, soul crushing massacreat Virginia Tech. Riding to the arenathat night, I remember wondering if a Celtics game would ever feel like itmattered again, if a Celtics game could ever resonate joy like it had so manytimes…so many years earlier.
*****
Two weeks ago,the Celtics also faced a Game 7. But itwas never going to end there.
The end of theNew Big Three era began the second the era itself began. It’s been five years of clocks ticking and windowsclosing. It’s been three years of traderumors and rebuilding scenarios.
And yet here, onthe 9th of June in 2012. With27 other teams on vacation, they’re still standing.
The borderlineobsession with the end of the era has almost entirely overshadowed the simple fact..thatthe era itself hasn’t yet ended. Despitethe daily question.
Doc Rivers hasbeen asked. So has Paul Pierce. And Kevin, and Ray, all of us have.
Is this the lastride?
Their answershave been scrutinized, hidden clues sought, double meanings interpreted.
But they’ve allanswered the question. They’ve been answeringit every day.
Not with theirwords, but with their games. Not withtheir minds, but with their heart.
The games themselvesare the answer. These playoffperformances that have erased an uninspired regular season that featured attimes, losses no legitimate contender could possibly suffer. More 25-plus point losses this year than theprevious four combined? A 5-9 start,under .500 at the all-star break? Andyet tonight, one win from the Finals. You really think they haven’t answered the question?
Ask Doc Riversif this is the end. He’ll tell you he hasn’t thought about it. Then he’ll bondthis team with a voice of unanimity and a single mind of purpose. And coachwith such force in Game 5 in Miami, coach with so much of himself, that it lefta permanent mark.
Ask Paul Pierceif this is the end. He’ll shake off the question. And then carry the Celtics througha must-win Game 2 in Atlanta without Rajon Rondo. And bleed on the sidelines havingfouled out, hoping for one more turn at bat.
Ask Ray Allen ifthis is the end. He’ll talk about how you never really know. And then he’llride out searing pain in an ankle that has a date with a surgeon…soon. And he’llstand in front of Dwayne Wade as if he wasn’t a 36 year old on one leg and fight.
And ask KevinGarnett if this is the end. You won’t get anything close to an answer. But that’s only because you’re listening, notlooking. For the three years since theinjury in Salt Lake, more than a few said he’d never be the same. That his bestyears were now behind him. Instead, hewhipped those voices in his head into a frenzy of doubters that he alone, mustdefeat. The result, a season at 36 years old unprecedented in the league’shistory. Dominating a new position they said he couldn’t play, taking shots they said he wouldn’t take. And making them. Again and again.
Do these Celticsknow the final chapter of this era has arrived?
Of course theydo.
The answer’s been on the court every night.
****
Youth is againstthe Celtics tonight. Health is againstthe Celtics tonight. So is the building.Logic, history, everything we know about the NBA says the Celtics can’t win.
No team, nofranchise has made more basketball history than the Boston Celtics.
And tonight, five years after reclaiming their birthright place among the NBA elite.
Four years afterregaining the throne.
Three yearsafter a dominant title defense season.
Two years afteran improbable run that left them inches from the title.
And one yearafter they decided to go all-in one last time…the obstacle course of theshortened season...and the self-inflicted elongated playoffs…has brought themhere.
It is one finalnight…one final chance…at one last Final.
And one lastresonant moment of joy, to add to a list five years ago…you couldn’t possiblyhave dreamed.
_________________________________________________
(Just forperspective, I went back to see if I’d said anything about Virginia Tech at the start of ourbroadcast that night, April 16, 2007. I hadn't remembered it, but this is how we opened that show…)
WE ARE LIVE AT THE AMERICAN AIRLINES ARENA IN
IN ABOUT 60 SEOCNDS…WE’RE GOING TO START OUR SHOW…THECELTICS TONIGHT OPEN WILL HIT AND WE’LL BRING YOU TONIGHT’S CELTICS GAME WITHTHE HEAT.
BUT WE PAUSE..IN THE UNSETTLING WAKE OF THIS MORNING’SMASSACRE AT VIRGINIA TECH. MAKING ABASKETBALL GAME..AT FIRST GLANCE..EVEN MORE TRIVIAL THAN NORMAL.
ONE DAY AFTER WE CELEBRATED THE 60THANNIVERSARY OF JACKIE ROBINSONINTEGRATING BASEBALL. A DAY THAT REMINDSUS WHY WE CHOSE SPORTS AS A PROFESSION…A DAY THAT REMINDS US WE’RE PROUDESTWHEN SPORTS LEADS SOCITEY..RATHER THAN FOLLOWS IT.
ONE DAY LATER…A DIFFERENT KIND OF REMINDER. OF WHAT IT IS WE DO..AND WHY WE DO IT.
A DAY IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE TO BELIEVE OUR NATURE EVEN HAS BETTER ANGELS.
THEY SAY SOMETIMES THAT THERE’S SPORTS..AND THERE’S THE REALWORLD. BUT THEY FORGET THAT SPORTS OFTENIS…WHAT THE REAL WORLD SHOULD BE…AND AS WE WERE SO BRUATLLY REMINDED TODAY…WHATIT SO OFTEN IS NOT.
A PLACE TO FIND JOY…WHEN JOY SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND
A PLACE WHERE CONFLICT IS RESOLVED THROUGH COMPETITION…NOTVIOLENCE.
A PLACE TO FIND INSPIRATION IN WHAT CAN BE ARDOUSLYACHIEVED…NOT WHAT CAN SO EASILY BE DESTROYED.
GOD BLESS THE 32 WHO LOST THEIR LIVES THIS MORNING IN BLACKSBURG. AND MAY THEY FIND PEACE NOW IN THIERWORLDS...AS WE GO ABOUT THE BUSINESS…OF WHAT BRINGS
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