Biggest Celtics disappointment?

[Roy H.]

In terms of the tragedies, in basketball terms Bias's death may have had a bigger impact, but Reggie's death has always hit me harder.  I'd rooted for him for years and felt that bond as a fan, so his death hurt more.

[Surferdad]

In terms of the tragedies, in basketball terms Bias's death may have had a bigger impact, but Reggie's death has always hit me harder.  I'd rooted for him for years and felt that bond as a fan, so his death hurt more.

I agree. We saw him play with the Celtics and the promise was clear.

I actually walked right by Reggie Lewis on the Northeastern campus. I was in grad school there at the time. It took me a minute to register who it was, which is why I didn't say hello.

[Silas]

In terms of the tragedies, in basketball terms Bias's death may have had a bigger impact, but Reggie's death has always hit me harder.  I'd rooted for him for years and felt that bond as a fan, so his death hurt more.

Both deaths were devastating.  As a Celtic fan and like most everyone on this forum I followed Reggie after he graduated from Northeastern and enjoyed his short career with the Celtics.  I loved his hustle and amazing defense with steals and blocks.  As a fan of Maryland basketball I knew of Bias while he was still in high school and I watched him grow to become a dominant player at Maryland.  Bias, in my opinion, was better than Jordan in college and would have been his equal if not better had he not abused his body with cocaine. Such a sad situation. 

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I admit my Cs bias in saying that the Los Angeles Lakers have won only 12 titles, not 17, but as an interesting thought experiment, let me ask everyone (especially those of you who feel the opposite of me): Should fans of the OKC Thunder be saying that "their team" has won an NBA title? The Sonics won the title in 1979, but it would be really strange to me if any Thunder fan bragged about the team's "championship history."

Here's another question, though more hypothetical: If the Cs relocated and became, let's say, the Buffalo Celtics, would you be cool if the new fans of that new(ish) team bragged about having won 17 (or 18 ) titles? Would you be okay with another city claiming Boston's titles?

[SHAQATTACK]

40 years latter I’m still sad anytime I hear Bias name.  I followed him at Maryland and I was out celebrating the Celtics drafting him.  Such an incredible talent and tragedy highs and lows left an imprint on me to this day. I don’t take tomorrow for granted anymore.

[Moranis]

I admit my Cs bias in saying that the Los Angeles Lakers have won only 12 titles, not 17, but as an interesting thought experiment, let me ask everyone (especially those of you who feel the opposite of me): Should fans of the OKC Thunder be saying that "their team" has won an NBA title? The Sonics won the title in 1979, but it would be really strange to me if any Thunder fan bragged about the team's "championship history."

Here's another question, though more hypothetical: If the Cs relocated and became, let's say, the Buffalo Celtics, would you be cool if the new fans of that new(ish) team bragged about having won 17 (or 18 ) titles? Would you be okay with another city claiming Boston's titles?

fans shouldn't really claim any title. They didn't win them.  I mean I live in Ohio, I have no connection to the city of Boston, but I'm a fan of the Celtics.

Frankly I find the while discussion silly and pointless.  What does it matter which franchise has the most titles? It doesn't do anything. I mean the Canadiens have far and away the most NHL championships with 25, nearly double that of the Maple Leafs 13, but the Candiens haven't won a title since 1993 and they only won 1 in the 80's.  So just 2 titles in the last 45 years. In other words most of their fans will barely remember, if at all, any title. Speaking of the Maple Leafs, they haven't won a title since 1967, and yet still have the 2nd most all time. The Red Wings have 11, 4 of which have come since 1997, but before that it was 1955. 

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I admit my Cs bias in saying that the Los Angeles Lakers have won only 12 titles, not 17, but as an interesting thought experiment, let me ask everyone (especially those of you who feel the opposite of me): Should fans of the OKC Thunder be saying that "their team" has won an NBA title? The Sonics won the title in 1979, but it would be really strange to me if any Thunder fan bragged about the team's "championship history."

Here's another question, though more hypothetical: If the Cs relocated and became, let's say, the Buffalo Celtics, would you be cool if the new fans of that new(ish) team bragged about having won 17 (or 18 ) titles? Would you be okay with another city claiming Boston's titles?

fans shouldn't really claim any title. They didn't win them.  I mean I live in Ohio, I have no connection to the city of Boston, but I'm a fan of the Celtics.

Frankly I find the while discussion silly and pointless.  What does it matter which franchise has the most titles? It doesn't do anything. I mean the Canadiens have far and away the most NHL championships with 25, nearly double that of the Maple Leafs 13, but the Candiens haven't won a title since 1993 and they only won 1 in the 80's.  So just 2 titles in the last 45 years. In other words most of their fans will barely remember, if at all, any title. Speaking of the Maple Leafs, they haven't won a title since 1967, and yet still have the 2nd most all time. The Red Wings have 11, 4 of which have come since 1997, but before that it was 1955.

Of course fans don't win titles, and that's not what I meant; I meant that there are quite a few fans who put stock in how their team has fared historically—it's a point of pride for them. Maybe that's foolish, but it happens, and it makes sense to me that some "fanatics" would care about that, even though you're correct that what happened in the past, especially the distant past, is irrelevant to how teams fare in the present. Maybe it's silly, but I'm not sure it's any more silly than just about anything else sports fanatics debate.

[dannyboy35]

  Boston sports fans. Cheering on the Jumbotron at the game when a fan said what he wanted most for Christmas was Danny Ainge fired ( before 2008) . The fans that gave more credit to Antoine yelling at team in bench than Pierce got scoring nearly every point in a historic comeback vs the nets. The fans who were more smart fans than Celtics fans. I love fans whose favorite team is the Celtics. But I think after that you get a lot of really dumb and annoying fans that really do a bad job of representing the fan base.

[lbgreen33]

In terms of the tragedies, in basketball terms Bias's death may have had a bigger impact, but Reggie's death has always hit me harder.  I'd rooted for him for years and felt that bond as a fan, so his death hurt more.

Good point Roy, both where horrible, but I loved Reggie Lewis 🥲

[lbgreen33]

40 years latter I’m still sad anytime I hear Bias name.  I followed him at Maryland and I was out celebrating the Celtics drafting him.  Such an incredible talent and tragedy highs and lows left an imprint on me to this day. I don’t take tomorrow for granted anymore.

Well said.

[kraidstar]

  Boston sports fans. Cheering on the Jumbotron at the game when a fan said what he wanted most for Christmas was Danny Ainge fired ( before 2008) . The fans that gave more credit to Antoine yelling at team in bench than Pierce got scoring nearly every point in a historic comeback vs the nets. The fans who were more smart fans than Celtics fans. I love fans whose favorite team is the Celtics. But I think after that you get a lot of really dumb and annoying fans that really do a bad job of representing the fan base.

I mean, human beings are generally pretty dumb. We overrate ourselves due to our collective achievements, but without writing and opposable thumbs we'd still be banging rocks in a cave somewhere.

With that being said, Patriots fans and Red Sox fans are far worse than Celtics fans. Sox fans are just wildly negative and toxic. I don't know if it's a holdover from the "curse" or whatever,  but they are never happy.

Pats fans have been playing the game on easy mode because of Brady and don't really understand the sport. IMO which is why there is so much confusion about why the team sucks right now. The fans, media, and team were all drinking the kool-aid for so long that scouting and accountability flew out the window. Now we're reaping the "rewards" of a decade of poor offensive drafting.

Suddenly everyone else is laughing at us and the smugness is gone. Honestly we kind if deserve it.

While I'm busy ranting I might as well bash on Bruins fans a bit. There is this annoying thing with hard-core hockey fans where they act as if hockey is the only "real" sport, and how the players are so much harder-working than anyone else. It's always struck me as being vaguely racist, and generally obnoxious.

Bruins fans also seem to put more blind faith in their club than oher fanbases. They're pretty resilient in the face of the incredible mental weakness the team has displayed in its many collapses. The Celtics have mirrored them in the last decade or so in this regard. But the C's have the excuse that their core has been developing/maturing.

When I express my concerns to other Bruins fans that the team is soft, I get blank stares.

[SparzWizard]

  Boston sports fans. Cheering on the Jumbotron at the game when a fan said what he wanted most for Christmas was Danny Ainge fired ( before 2008) . The fans that gave more credit to Antoine yelling at team in bench than Pierce got scoring nearly every point in a historic comeback vs the nets. The fans who were more smart fans than Celtics fans. I love fans whose favorite team is the Celtics. But I think after that you get a lot of really dumb and annoying fans that really do a bad job of representing the fan base.

I mean, human beings are generally pretty dumb. We overrate ourselves due to our collective achievements, but without writing and opposable thumbs we'd still be banging rocks in a cave somewhere.

With that being said, Patriots fans and Red Sox fans are far worse than Celtics fans. Sox fans are just wildly negative and toxic. I don't know if it's a holdover from the "curse" or whatever,  but they are never happy.

Pats fans have been playing the game on easy mode because of Brady and don't really understand the sport. IMO which is why there is so much confusion about why the team sucks right now. The fans, media, and team were all drinking the kool-aid for so long that scouting and accountability flew out the window. Now we're reaping the "rewards" of a decade of poor offensive drafting.

Suddenly everyone else is laughing at us and the smugness is gone. Honestly we kind if deserve it.

While I'm busy ranting I might as well bash on Bruins fans a bit. There is this annoying thing with hard-core hockey fans where they act as if hockey is the only "real" sport, and how the players are so much harder-working than anyone else. It's always struck me as being vaguely racist, and generally obnoxious.

Bruins fans also seem to put more blind faith in their club than oher fanbases. They're pretty resilient in the face of the incredible mental weakness the team has displayed in its many collapses. The Celtics have mirrored them in the last decade or so in this regard. But the C's have the excuse that their core has been developing/maturing.

When I express my concerns to other Bruins fans that the team is soft, I get blank stares.

Celtics and Bruins are similar in that they've only won one title in the 2000 millennium or 21st century.

I feel like the Celtics collapsed more than the Bruins especially in the conference finals and NBA finals. C's should've repped in the Finals in the bubble, had Hayward/Irving for a period of time, and the chokes in 2022 Finals and 2023 exit. Should be no more excuses for the Tatum/Brown era.

[Donoghus]

  Boston sports fans. Cheering on the Jumbotron at the game when a fan said what he wanted most for Christmas was Danny Ainge fired ( before 2008) . The fans that gave more credit to Antoine yelling at team in bench than Pierce got scoring nearly every point in a historic comeback vs the nets. The fans who were more smart fans than Celtics fans. I love fans whose favorite team is the Celtics. But I think after that you get a lot of really dumb and annoying fans that really do a bad job of representing the fan base.

I mean, human beings are generally pretty dumb. We overrate ourselves due to our collective achievements, but without writing and opposable thumbs we'd still be banging rocks in a cave somewhere.

With that being said, Patriots fans and Red Sox fans are far worse than Celtics fans. Sox fans are just wildly negative and toxic. I don't know if it's a holdover from the "curse" or whatever,  but they are never happy.

Pats fans have been playing the game on easy mode because of Brady and don't really understand the sport. IMO which is why there is so much confusion about why the team sucks right now. The fans, media, and team were all drinking the kool-aid for so long that scouting and accountability flew out the window. Now we're reaping the "rewards" of a decade of poor offensive drafting.

Suddenly everyone else is laughing at us and the smugness is gone. Honestly we kind if deserve it.

While I'm busy ranting I might as well bash on Bruins fans a bit. There is this annoying thing with hard-core hockey fans where they act as if hockey is the only "real" sport, and how the players are so much harder-working than anyone else. It's always struck me as being vaguely racist, and generally obnoxious.

Bruins fans also seem to put more blind faith in their club than oher fanbases. They're pretty resilient in the face of the incredible mental weakness the team has displayed in its many collapses. The Celtics have mirrored them in the last decade or so in this regard. But the C's have the excuse that their core has been developing/maturing.

When I express my concerns to other Bruins fans that the team is soft, I get blank stares.

Celtics and Bruins are similar in that they've only won one title in the 2000 millennium or 21st century.

I feel like the Celtics collapsed more than the Bruins especially in the conference finals and NBA finals. C's should've repped in the Finals in the bubble, had Hayward/Irving for a period of time, and the chokes in 2022 Finals and 2023 exit. Should be no more excuses for the Tatum/Brown era.

Are you sure about that? 

The Bruins have had some horrific collapses this century. 

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

  Boston sports fans. Cheering on the Jumbotron at the game when a fan said what he wanted most for Christmas was Danny Ainge fired ( before 2008) . The fans that gave more credit to Antoine yelling at team in bench than Pierce got scoring nearly every point in a historic comeback vs the nets. The fans who were more smart fans than Celtics fans. I love fans whose favorite team is the Celtics. But I think after that you get a lot of really dumb and annoying fans that really do a bad job of representing the fan base.

I mean, human beings are generally pretty dumb. We overrate ourselves due to our collective achievements, but without writing and opposable thumbs we'd still be banging rocks in a cave somewhere.

With that being said, Patriots fans and Red Sox fans are far worse than Celtics fans. Sox fans are just wildly negative and toxic. I don't know if it's a holdover from the "curse" or whatever,  but they are never happy.

Pats fans have been playing the game on easy mode because of Brady and don't really understand the sport. IMO which is why there is so much confusion about why the team sucks right now. The fans, media, and team were all drinking the kool-aid for so long that scouting and accountability flew out the window. Now we're reaping the "rewards" of a decade of poor offensive drafting.

Suddenly everyone else is laughing at us and the smugness is gone. Honestly we kind if deserve it.

While I'm busy ranting I might as well bash on Bruins fans a bit. There is this annoying thing with hard-core hockey fans where they act as if hockey is the only "real" sport, and how the players are so much harder-working than anyone else. It's always struck me as being vaguely racist, and generally obnoxious.

Bruins fans also seem to put more blind faith in their club than oher fanbases. They're pretty resilient in the face of the incredible mental weakness the team has displayed in its many collapses. The Celtics have mirrored them in the last decade or so in this regard. But the C's have the excuse that their core has been developing/maturing.

When I express my concerns to other Bruins fans that the team is soft, I get blank stares.

Celtics and Bruins are similar in that they've only won one title in the 2000 millennium or 21st century.

I feel like the Celtics collapsed more than the Bruins especially in the conference finals and NBA finals. C's should've repped in the Finals in the bubble, had Hayward/Irving for a period of time, and the chokes in 2022 Finals and 2023 exit. Should be no more excuses for the Tatum/Brown era.

Are you sure about that? 

The Bruins have had some horrific collapses this century.

Yup, just last year, actually.

[celticsclay]

Franchises switch cities in every sport and all of the time.  Basically the only time the history has not moved with the team was when the city of Cleveland sued to keep the Browns name AND history when the old Browns became the Ravens. 

And what is the distance that matters. The Patriots used to be the Boston Patriots, playing in Boston.  Then they moved out of Boston and became the New England Patriots. So is 22 miles close enough to keep the history?  What about the Giants, they moved from NY to NJ, ok to keep the name and history? Or the Nets moving from NJ to NY, ok to keep name and history?

The LA Dodgers have had a bunch of different names and cities.  Cleveland Guardians just changed their name again, do they not get to count the Indians 2 championships because they are now the Guardians?  Do the Braves not get to count the 2 from Boston or the 1 from Milwaukee, so they just have 2 titles and not 5?

It is all just silly nonsense. The Lakers franchise has 17 titles.  12 were won while the franchise was in LA, 5 while the franchise was in Minneapolis, but it is still 17 titles for the franchise.

Your example of the patriots stadium moving 22 miles potentially changing whether the titles count may actually be the dumbest attempt at trying to make a point on this forum I have come across. Want to edit that out or ask the question for 100 other franchises that have moved stadiums 20 miles, many of them multiple times? How silly are we getting here? It is such a silly thing it makes it hard to take any of your post seriously.

that was in fact the point I was making. The whole discussion is stupid. The Lakers have 17 titles. Period.

But there is obviously a difference between moving cross country and moving your stadium 20 miles. That is why throwing that in was dumb and irrelevant. Your  brave fans point was actually relevant because I’m not sure all their fans count wins in Boston. I could see arguments going either way on that.  I’m sure there is some more back and forth when a team moves across the country.  Adding nonsense about stadium moves just muddles the argument.