Fans mostly see results, which is why the Moses Malones and Artis Gilmores of the world appeal far more to the uneducated than to the aficionados. Coaches look at Bill Walton the way young actors look at Laurence Olivier. They don’t know whether to be more impressed by what he knows or what he intuits.
Tag Archives: Boston Celtics
Robert Parish: Hail to the Chief, 1994
He’s all over the NBA record book, of course, even if he doesn’t either know or care about such things. Going into the season, he was second in games played, fifth in blocks, seventh in minutes played, and ninth in field goals made and rebounds.
Nate Archibald: The Tiny Touch, 1982
“If you let it happen, this game will pass you by,” Archibald declares in looking at his different roles with the Celtics. “They gave me a challenge, and I had to meet it.”
Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell: A Decade of Battle, 1969
Russell or Chamberlain? How do you like your steak—rare, medium, or well done?
A Tribute to Bob Cousy, 1962
Basketball is an endless search for the “open” man today. An orthodox pass will never find him. Cousy has practiced the no-look feed so expertly, there have been movements to frisk him for mirrors.
Henry Finkel: Bill Russell’s Unfortunate Replacement, 1971
But it isn’t only Russell’s ghost. The problem is really Finkel himself. He is a quiet, gentle man, who never could hide in a crowd, not even when he was a youngster back in Union City, NJ.
How the Boston Celtics Established a Dynasty, 1976
The guiding hand behind those brilliant personnel decisions was, of course, Auerbach, the feisty, little, self-proclaimed “dictator” of the Celtics, who is still the club’s general manager and still producing winners. There is no longer a dynasty in Boston simply because no new Bill Russell has come along—and probably never will.
Boston Celtics: Something Old, Something New, 1981
Brown’s acquisition of the NBA‘s most-celebrated franchise was viewed from the start as a damnable irony. His meddlesome ways were strange to Chaney, who spent nine of his 11 pro seasons in the Celtic backcourt, and even stranger to Red Auerbach.
Larry Siegfried: Marching to the Beat of His Own Enigma, 1970
His demeanor has become a subject for conversation, pro and con. Just when you are about to consign him to the lower regions of Hades, he goes out on the basketball court and makes a mockery of his critics.
Andrew Toney: The Boston Strangler, 1980s
When Toney says he was unstoppable, it’s without a trace of bravado; it’s more like an accountant ticking off his business assets.
