What it means to be a Celtic now?

[CelticSooner]

"Celtics Pride" is nothing more than remembering that we won a lot early on. When we have a good team, people will exalt the phrase, but when we are bad, as we have often been since the 90s, the reality was there to see that we are just another team.

People like to talk mystical about sports but it is just a bunch of guys getting paid to entertain us.

I understand what you mean but the core the last 6 years was special. I took pride in being a Celtics fan. I'll never forget the fight they had. They didn't always take the regular season seriously but when the time came they played their asses off. They gave me some great memories that I will never forget. What they lacked in athleticism they more than made up with toughness. It wasn't just about winning.

[D.o.s.]

"Celtics Pride" is nothing more than remembering that we won a lot early on. When we have a good team, people will exalt the phrase, but when we are bad, as we have often been since the 90s, the reality was there to see that we are just another team.

People like to talk mystical about sports but it is just a bunch of guys getting paid to entertain us.

Sort of. I think your way of thinking, which is not wrong, misses a lot of the community surrounding the Celtics fanbase, and a lot of what goes in to making people lifelong sports fans of our team.

"Celtic Pride" is a way to transcend the more base ways of choosing a team to support--an alma mater, say, or a hometown team. We are fans of the winningest team in basketball history. We have more numbers hanging in our rafters than any other team in the league. We are the franchise that birthed the first dynasty, the first player's union (thanks Tommy!), the first all-black starting five, the best white dudes that have ever played baske, ball in their own eras; we revolutionized the fast break; we were the first team that proved to the most media centric quarter of the country at large that basketball was worth following, worth supporting, and wasn't going to crumble at the feet of an athletic masterpiece like Wilt Chamberlain.

The Boston Celtics are important for more reasons than ttheir market or that they're a sports team for a popular sport.

We directly contributed to making the NBA what it is today. And the NBA today is awesome. That separates us from being just another sports team, and it always will.

Sadly, almost all you mention above that makes the Celtics special happened over 40 years ago. Many fans do not seek out transcendent myths to justify their being a fan. The reality is that people here were fans first, believers in "Celtic Pride" second. Buying into the fancy talk is a product of being a fan and fans do that everywhere.

I consider it nonsense when Red Sox fans do it because their team is insignificant compared to the Yankees. Yet, so many Red Sox fans will rant about how evil the Yankees are--the Yankees are the Celtics of MLB (except more so now that the Lakers have pretty much caught up to us on success measures)!

I am all for appreciating a teams tradition, but I shake my head when people start forming exalted narratives about their sports teams.

That's cute. The only difference is that the "exalted narratives" and the "transcendent myths" actually happened. You, perhaps, should do some reading on the history of the NBA.

What the Celtics have done for the sport and the league absolutely transcends relatively middling concerns like 'will we win another title next year?' 'I don't wanna root for a bad team!' 'I hope we're great at tanking,' and the like.

If I'm only speaking for myself, than that's fine, but I prefer and celebrate the fact that as a Celtics fan I'm supporting more than a collection of athletes wearing the same colored jersey, and I see no reason to talk down to people because they see more than laundry.

[tenn_smoothie]

"Celtics Pride" is nothing more than remembering that we won a lot early on. When we have a good team, people will exalt the phrase, but when we are bad, as we have often been since the 90s, the reality was there to see that we are just another team.

People like to talk mystical about sports but it is just a bunch of guys getting paid to entertain us.

Sort of. I think your way of thinking, which is not wrong, misses a lot of the community surrounding the Celtics fanbase, and a lot of what goes in to making people lifelong sports fans of our team.

"Celtic Pride" is a way to transcend the more base ways of choosing a team to support--an alma mater, say, or a hometown team. We are fans of the winningest team in basketball history. We have more numbers hanging in our rafters than any other team in the league. We are the franchise that birthed the first dynasty, the first player's union (thanks Tommy!), the first all-black starting five, the best white dudes that have ever played baske, ball in their own eras; we revolutionized the fast break; we were the first team that proved to the most media centric quarter of the country at large that basketball was worth following, worth supporting, and wasn't going to crumble at the feet of an athletic masterpiece like Wilt Chamberlain.

The Boston Celtics are important for more reasons than ttheir market or that they're a sports team for a popular sport.

We directly contributed to making the NBA what it is today. And the NBA today is awesome. That separates us from being just another sports team, and it always will.

Sadly, almost all you mention above that makes the Celtics special happened over 40 years ago. Many fans do not seek out transcendent myths to justify their being a fan. The reality is that people here were fans first, believers in "Celtic Pride" second. Buying into the fancy talk is a product of being a fan and fans do that everywhere.

I consider it nonsense when Red Sox fans do it because their team is insignificant compared to the Yankees. Yet, so many Red Sox fans will rant about how evil the Yankees are--the Yankees are the Celtics of MLB (except more so now that the Lakers have pretty much caught up to us on success measures)!

I am all for appreciating a teams tradition, but I shake my head when people start forming exalted narratives about their sports teams.

"over 40 years ago" ??

are you 12 years old - how about the rebuilt title teams in the 70's, 80's and 2000's.  the 90's could not be helped - NO TEAM survives the death of what would have been their two best players and keeps winning.

imagine if it would have been James Worthy who dies after draft day and not Len Bias - the Celtics probably win 6 titles that decade. and let's never forget how Stern helped us out by allowing zero compensation for those crucial Celtic losses.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

I'm having a hard time rooting for a team that will try to lose on purpose for the sake of it's "future".

[Casperian]

"Celtics Pride" has always been built on "Celtics Smarts", like, I don´t know, trading Cedric Maxwell and a pick for Bill Walton, or trading Macauley and Hagan for a pick that turned into Russell. If you believe anything else, you haven´t been paying attention.

Does Max not count? Or was Red drunk when he did that?

You can get the player out of the Celtics, but you can´t get the Celtics out of the player.

There may be no loyalty in professional sports, anymore, but there´s still a lot of love in it.

[Celtics18]

I've never understood how you can root for the name on the front of the jersey without also rooting for the name on the back of the guy wearing it.

[Mazingerz]

IMHO they will not tank. Knowing Rondo, Bradley, Sully - all fighters.

I have been a believer since the days of Bird. Man it was rough seeing your team have worst record when the big three left.

This is a bitter pill to swallow (rebuilding) but it has to be this way.

We are just fortunate that Wyc, Pagliuca and the other owners are Celtics believers as well. I am also in the belief that without Danny Ainge's guidance this team would not have been relevant during the 2000 - 2012 decade (Pierce/KG Era).

[Casperian]

I've never understood how you can root for the name on the front of the jersey without also rooting for the name on the back of the guy wearing it.

I do root for the name on the back, too. I simply have priorities.

[vinnie]

"Celtics Pride" has always been built on "Celtics Smarts", like, I don´t know, trading Cedric Maxwell and a pick for Bill Walton, or trading Macauley and Hagan for a pick that turned into Russell. If you believe anything else, you haven´t been paying attention.

Does Max not count? Or was Red drunk when he did that?

You can get the player out of the Celtics, but you can´t get the Celtics out of the player.

There may be no loyalty in professional sports, anymore, but there´s still a lot of love in it.

Max was traded because Red believed he did not work hard enough to get back from his knee injury. Red was not very happy with Max.

[Casperian]

"Celtics Pride" has always been built on "Celtics Smarts", like, I don´t know, trading Cedric Maxwell and a pick for Bill Walton, or trading Macauley and Hagan for a pick that turned into Russell. If you believe anything else, you haven´t been paying attention.

Does Max not count? Or was Red drunk when he did that?

You can get the player out of the Celtics, but you can´t get the Celtics out of the player.

There may be no loyalty in professional sports, anymore, but there´s still a lot of love in it.

Max was traded because Red believed he did not work hard enough to get back from his knee injury. Red was not very happy with Max.

In other words, Red didn´t believe he could win with him, anymore.

[feckless]

 It means you better swallow your pride for a while. And pick up a number two team like the Nets or Pacers.

Tommy point..my 2 choices also.. out west McHale and the Warriors were really fun at times

[feckless]

"Celtics Pride" has always been built on "Celtics Smarts", like, I don´t know, trading Cedric Maxwell and a pick for Bill Walton, or trading Macauley and Hagan for a pick that turned into Russell. If you believe anything else, you haven´t been paying attention.

Does Max not count? Or was Red drunk when he did that?

You can get the player out of the Celtics, but you can´t get the Celtics out of the player.

There may be no loyalty in professional sports, anymore, but there´s still a lot of love in it.

Max was traded because Red believed he did not work hard enough to get back from his knee injury. Red was not very happy with Max.

In other words, Red didn´t believe he could win with him, anymore.

  No Red believed you had to work hard to be a Celtic, he believed you had to play hard to be a Celtic.  Are you saying Paul and KG did not work or play hard enough?

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I understand and appreciate what Vinnie and others are saying—this is the Boston Celtics, best team in the history of basketball, racial groundbreakers, and so on. The banners, the parquet, the mystique. I love it too.

But transitions are always hard. It'll always be tough to say goodbye to legends, and I'm not sure there's a truly "good" way to do it (other than ending their career with a title, which is rare). Letting players just retire has its perks, but ultimately the only practical benefit is cap space. That doesn't do as much for a rebuild as a trade that brings back draft picks, expirings, and other assets. It's a bit cold and cruel, but Danny's not getting paid to think with his heart (even though he did, in my opinion, by keeping KG and Pierce together and sending them to a pretty good team).

What did we get for Bird, Parish, and McHale? Little to nothing, if I remember correctly. Sure, the deaths of Bias and Lewis really set us back, but getting virtually nothing for the big three also hurt the team, didn't it?

And let's not pretend that the C's haven't been bad before. Just before Bird's arrival, and for most of the 90s, and just before KG arrived (18 straight losses!)—there were some pretty bad teams in there. It was only 7 years ago that things were looking pretty bleak for Boston: One good player in Pierce, and a bunch of castoffs, rookies, and no-names. And then Danny made great moves that led to a title only one season later.

Listen, I don't pretend to know everything Danny's thinking, and I don't know how soon before we'll be good again, but I don't think it'll be a long time. I'm gonna try my best to enjoy watching guys like Rondo and Sully and whomever else might be on the roster, and knowing that Danny's always thinking of ways to improve the team, and that it probably won't be long before he pulls off another KG-like acquisition.

To be honest, as much as I like watching KG and Pierce, last season was difficult to watch, and another season of them in Boston without enough help (which Danny was not in a position to provide) was possibly going to be even uglier than last season. If I have to watch ugly, I'd rather it be up-and-coming ugly than over-the-hill ugly.

So Danny really did them a solid by putting them on a team where they can have the help they need. Let's face it: they have more hope with that Nets team than they would've had here next season.

Breaking up is tough. But we've been here before. Let's just see what unfolds next.

[feckless]

I understand and appreciate what Vinnie and others are saying—this is the Boston Celtics, best team in the history of basketball, racial groundbreakers, and so on. The banners, the parquet, the mystique. I love it too.

But transitions are always hard. It'll always be tough to say goodbye to legends, and I'm not sure there's a truly "good" way to do it (other than ending their career with a title, which is rare). Letting players just retire has its perks, but ultimately the only practical benefit is cap space. That doesn't do as much for a rebuild as a trade that brings back draft picks, expirings, and other assets. It's a bit cold and cruel, but Danny's not getting paid to think with his heart (even though he did, in my opinion, by keeping KG and Pierce together and sending them to a pretty good team).

What did we get for Bird, Parish, and McHale? Little to nothing, if I remember correctly. Sure, the deaths of Bias and Lewis really set us back, but getting virtually nothing for the big three also hurt the team, didn't it?

And let's not pretend that the C's haven't been bad before. Just before Bird's arrival, and for most of the 90s, and just before KG arrived (18 straight losses!)—there were some pretty bad teams in there. It was only 7 years ago that things were looking pretty bleak for Boston: One good player in Pierce, and a bunch of castoffs, rookies, and no-names. And then Danny made great moves that led to a title only one season later.

Listen, I don't pretend to know everything Danny's thinking, and I don't know how soon before we'll be good again, but I don't think it'll be a long time. I'm gonna try my best to enjoy watching guys like Rondo and Sully and whomever else might be on the roster, and knowing that Danny's always thinking of ways to improve the team, and that it probably won't be long before he pulls off another KG-like acquisition.

To be honest, as much as I like watching KG and Pierce, last season was difficult to watch, and another season of them in Boston without enough help (which Danny was not in a position to provide) was possibly going to be even uglier than last season. If I have to watch ugly, I'd rather it be up-and-coming ugly than over-the-hill ugly.

So Danny really did them a solid by putting them on a team where they can have the help they need. Let's face it: they have more hope with that Nets team than they would've had here next season.

Breaking up is tough. But we've been here before. Let's just see what unfolds next.

You are forgetting or minimizing the injury to Bradley to start the year and then Rondo and then Sullinger.  Jeff Green was just coming back from his open heart surgery..the possibility for a run this year was there.  2 years ago they took Miami to a game 7.

But most of all you are weakly tolerating the disrespect to Paul Pierce, he had earned the right if not more to determine his own fate.  Should Bird have been dumped, Russell...what happened tonight is shameful, not a grin and bear it and you will feel better in 5 years. 

[BballTim]

"Celtics Pride" has always been built on "Celtics Smarts", like, I don´t know, trading Cedric Maxwell and a pick for Bill Walton, or trading Macauley and Hagan for a pick that turned into Russell. If you believe anything else, you haven´t been paying attention.

Does Max not count? Or was Red drunk when he did that?

You can get the player out of the Celtics, but you can´t get the Celtics out of the player.

There may be no loyalty in professional sports, anymore, but there´s still a lot of love in it.

Max was traded because Red believed he did not work hard enough to get back from his knee injury. Red was not very happy with Max.

  I thought it was related to his flipping off the crowd at a game, which didn't earn him any goodwill from Red.