Is there any player acquisition process that makes less sense than the NBA lottery?
I am a die hard Houston sports fan, well except for the red headed step-child Houston Texans, and one of my first memories as a sports fan is the 86 Celtics stomping the Rockets. From that point on I swore to hate everything that was associated with Larry Bird. The irony of course is that my friends and I still must fight comparisons to him in any pick up games we play to this day. The man looms like a shadow over any caucasian basketball player. I don't mind the comparisons to Pistol Pete when I play but the irony is none of us on the court are old enough to actually have seen him play.
But through the years I have slowly lowered my gauntlet against the Celtics. As a youngster I can remember reading the Reggie Lewis story and being impacted by the reality that athletes are in fact human. And since the 80's the Celtics have time and time again shown their vulnerability. If you believe in the law of averages then I would say God is definitely do his best to balance out the success of the old mythical Celtics.
As the lottery took place I was sitting in a Church's chicken restaurant. The television in the restaurant was being used by employees who deemed "The Bachelor" as more important than the fates of NBA teams. Combine that with half cooked chicken strips and you see what we are dealing with here.
I had my friend who was watching the draft text me the order. He even waited a minute between each envelope to create the necessary suspense. So when I received the text with "Number 5 goes to Boston" I nearly dropped my mardi gras sauce all over myself. How, I thought? Why? I didn't finish my meal.
I can't explain it but there is something that has changed about the Celtics' mystique. I grew up hating them all in their Converse laden glory and yet now I feel a certain sense of pity for them. What can be done to right the ship? Do we have to make another "Celtic Pride" movie to appease the sports gods? I don't know the answer Bill. I am a Houston fan. We are talking about a city of teams that forfeit 32 point leads in 3rd quarter NFL playoffs like they were doing their morning routine. We have no problem losing by 40 in a game 7 versus the Mavs. We are the literal version of the song lyric, "Why do you build me up buttercup just to let me down." Tracy Mcgrady will play the roll of Buttercup by the way.
All I can think of now is that somehow the Celtics can package Paul Pierce and the number 5 pick and bring Bill Walton out of retirement. Maybe the Gods will finally be pissed off enough to smite the Celtics front office with a lightning rod and give them a trade for Garnett out of pity. Oh what could have been.
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Adamlee - Like it again. But as I said yesterday, I'm sick of these teams whining about the lottery and how they got shafted. The lottery has been in effect for so many years that its become part of what the NBA is. Those are the rules. You have to play by them.
I really think that it couldn't have happened to a better team. Sure we don't dislike the Celts as much now as we did when they were winning, and the Yankees weren't hated when Stump Merrill was managing, and the Cowboys were stomachable during Aikman's rookie season. But we don't want the Celts good again. The hatred would rise and rise quickly.
orangewarrior
Gettysburg , PA
Total Comments (10)
celtics have been getting screwed for years. im still mad at petino for absolutely ruining this franchise. I say blow this thing up and try and keep this thing young and hope you catch lighting in a bottle with gerald green. Somehow develop hs defensive skills because he was able to develop a outside shot so maybe he could turn into a litle something.
This is going to be Jeffersons team in a few years and I dont want to see him go through what pierce has had to go through because someone that puts everything into the game like his doesnt deserve it at all.
So as much as I ate to say it...Bye Paul Pierce.
nephi125
Jamestown , RI
Total Comments (25)
great read... again. you have an ability to make almost any topic seem interesting. now try making NASCAR radio seem exciting. even you can't do that!
back to the blog above, it gave an inside look at a young fan that would hold a grudge for years after his teams defeat. followed much later by letting go a bit, to be replaced with pity.
i had a somewhat similar experiance when i was three. living in seattle during the "mariners' magical ride" (as it was called by everyone in the city), baseball meant everything to me. so, to see them do so well only to fall short to Boston galled my toddler heart in a way that probably scared my parents somewhat. at least, when it got to "Dear God, please kill the Boston Red Sox, and make mom let me have ice cream for lunch... amen" the difference is, pity came many years ago, to be replaced with fury that they won the world series, to be replaced with somewhat liking them (at least their pitching staff, man-ram's stupidity, and Papi's power... last year) it seems the celtics have got a while to go before they reach that level of prowess again.
hook'em_10
Trinidad , CO
Total Comments (537)
As nephi125 said, the Lord has smited the Celtics mercilessly. Rick Petino.
1Hawkeye1 wants Vida
Clear Lake , IA
Total Comments (1920)
hey great piece. funny the only thing i didn't like was the opening line. this process might make the most sense. why totally reward teams finishing in last place? i didn't see all the news that came from this draft last year when the blazers didn't get "their" draft pick. if we didn't have the lottery teams would start scheming after the allstar game. you can't just give them the draft pick. a process in the nba that does need to be changed is the seeding. last year having teams lose to get a chance to play the team they want and this years spurs vs jazz. make those records mean something and have the best team always line up vs. the worst. this draft just might reverse the blazers fortunes after jordan.
fastmoneydan
The Dalles , OR
Total Comments (340)
Nice article you should write more often.
Iwinski
Metro Detroit, MI
Total Comments (46)
The idea of putting teams in order from worst to first is to restore parity in the league. Teans in other sports tank as well. I watched the Houston Texans do it a year ago when Kris Brown missed a kick so they could get the top pick. Of course leave it to the Texans to screw it up and pass on both Vince Young AND Reggie Bush.
And Portland would have had the top pick last year had the system been ordered from worst to first. So it would have ended up evening out. If you are going to keep the lottery then at least weight it more in advantage of losing teams. If you're the worst in the league you should not only have a 25% chance of being the 1st pick. That basically means you have a 75% chance to lose the pick.
AdamLee
Seguin , TX
Total Comments (1387)
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