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My family has a long history of sports fandom. Not just baseball. Basketball runs a close second if not tied for first in our house.
My father is a fan of all sports (especially Boston teams) but my passion for basketball came from the women in my family. My mother and my late grandmother adore(d) basketball. My mother is a life-long Celts fan and my grandmother was an Orlando Magic fan from the time the team came into existence until the day she passed in 2003.
From the moment Doc Rivers became the coach of the Magic, he was my grandmother’s man. My grandfather watched many Celtics games this season and cheered them on with his “Do it for Max’s guy” mantra. (My grandmother’s name was Maxine.)
Well they did. And as I sit here typing and crying tears of joy, I’m thinking about my grandmother who would be screaming and jumping up and down and probably waving a towel if she was alive to see this.
I’m old school. Hell, I called in sick to work in 1986 to attend the Celtics’ parade. There will never be anything in basketball for me that will match the feeling I had back then. But this is pretty damn close. I’m so happy for Paul Pierce and for Doc Rivers and, hell, even for Danny Ainge…they did great and deserve this. The entire team deseves this. (So much for Bob Ryan’s prediction at the beginning of the season that Garnett and Allen wouldn’t help bring a championship since three players can’t win it all. Way to go, Bob.)
And a special message for Kobe: It was Shaq who won those championships, not you. You weren’t ever, aren’t now and never will be anywhere close to Michael Jordan. Jordan wouldn’t have disappeared on his team the way you did. Thanks for playing….game over.
Enjoy this moment, Celtics fans, it’s been a long time coming!
Light up that cigar, Red. And pass it along to my grandmother!
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