Ubuntu: An Inspiration for the rest of the league?

[indeedproceed]

Two interesting quotes I saw yesterday and today:

Falk said a visit to Boston for Game 2 of the NBA Finals influenced Brand's decision to opt out.

"He watched what happened when a few stars get together and agree to have a communal effort," Falk said. "He said 'That's what I'd like to accomplish in my career.'"

Paxson said [Tyrus] Thomas and Joakim Noah will be part of the Bulls' summer league team, which begins practice Thursday and plays its first game in Orlando on Monday. It is unusual for a player entering his third season, such as Thomas, to take part in summer league. But Thomas said the idea of helping Rose start his career, combined with having witnessed some of the Boston Celtics run to the NBA championship, made him decide to participate. Thomas was in Boston to support Celtics forward Glen Davis, his former LSU teammate. 'It was my choice,' Thomas said. 'After winning 33 games, you want to do whatever it takes to get better and win. Me playing a couple of summer league games is not going to hurt, it's going to help to acclimate Derrick and build more chemistry with Joakim. If that's what it takes to get to that level where you want to get, it's a small sacrifice.'"

The Boston Celtics are an inspiration!

[zerophase]

i think the inspiration happened a long time ago. when the celtics first got together, many gm's thought, hey that could be my team. i remember playing memphis and mike gorman having a quote from the gm that said, he could trade a few pieces and become the next celtics; i laughed. but hey, thats inspiration for you. the only problem was that people feared how far they would go- if they would make it all the way to the top. they did.

i think the ego thing in the nba is overrated. there are a lot of allstar players in the nba, and i doubt the majority of them have egos so big that they would refuse to get allstar player as assistance on their team. rallen mentioned that doc even thought their egos were larger than they actually were. i mean, even iverson worked well with carmelo, as well as kobe and gasol. if those too cases work, i think most will. granted, the shaq and kobe thing was an exception, but they did win a lot of championships so technically, if you were to say if the pairing of stars worked for the goal of a championship- it did.

[LarBrd33]

It's interesting... I was talking to a friend of mine from Denver who follows the Nuggets and his perception after following that team is that Iverson and Melo hate each other both on and off the court.  That was the first I had heard that, but I don't really follow the Nuggets.  Actually it wasn't even a "perception"... he was telling me as if it were common knowledge saying that neither of them talk to each other and they clearly don't get along. 

True or not, I don't think it's that easy to replicate the Celtics success.  You need the perfect mix of players, and the perfect mix of personalities, and the perfect mix of role players and the perfect set of events (like the Rome trip) and staff to bring it all together.   And even KG, Ray and Pierce admit that it wouldn't have worked had they been younger.  The fact we got them at this point in their career after each had individual failure allowed them to appreciate each other more and not look for their own glory.

[BballTim]

  Color me cynical, but Thomas's spot on the depth chart probably has more to do with his decision than anything else.

[indeedproceed]

Baron Davis and Elton Brand got that Ubuntu swing right now. Except with Hollywood drama.

Whos next?

Davis
Gordon.Mobley
?
Brand, Thorton
Kaman

A defensive swingman this way comes?

[TripleOT]

Me-buntu is more likely to take hold with most of the league.