Five years ago,
the Celtics took the 15 minute bus ride from their Miami hotel, here to
American Airlines Arena. The same ride
we took tonight. It was the final road
game of one of the worst seasons in Celtics history. 58 losses, an 18-game losing streak and no
real signs of the clouds parting. Hours
earlier, 32 people were killed in a senseless, mindless, soul crushing massacre
at Virginia Tech. Riding to the arena
that night, I remember wondering if a Celtics game would ever feel like it
mattered again, if a Celtics game could ever resonate joy like it had so many
times…so many years earlier.
*****
Two weeks ago,
the Celtics also faced a Game 7. But it
was never going to end there.
The end of the
New Big Three era began the second the era itself began. It’s been five years of clocks ticking and windows
closing. It’s been three years of trade
rumors and rebuilding scenarios.
And yet here, on
the 9th of June in 2012. With
27 other teams on vacation, they’re still standing.
The borderline
obsession with the end of the era has almost entirely overshadowed the simple fact..that
the era itself hasn’t yet ended. Despite
the daily question.
Doc Rivers has
been asked. So has Paul Pierce. And Kevin, and Ray, all of us have.
Is this the last
ride?
Their answers
have been scrutinized, hidden clues sought, double meanings interpreted.
But they’ve all
answered the question. They’ve been answering
it every day.
Not with their
words, but with their games. Not with
their minds, but with their heart.
The games themselves
are the answer. These playoff
performances that have erased an uninspired regular season that featured at
times, losses no legitimate contender could possibly suffer. More 25-plus point losses this year than the
previous four combined? A 5-9 start,
under .500 at the all-star break? And
yet tonight, one win from the Finals. You really think they haven’t answered the question?
Ask Doc Rivers
if this is the end. He’ll tell you he hasn’t thought about it. Then he’ll bond
this team with a voice of unanimity and a single mind of purpose. And coach
with such force in Game 5 in Miami, coach with so much of himself, that it left
a permanent mark.
Ask Paul Pierce
if this is the end. He’ll shake off the question. And then carry the Celtics through
a must-win Game 2 in Atlanta without Rajon Rondo. And bleed on the sidelines having
fouled out, hoping for one more turn at bat.
Ask Ray Allen if
this is the end. He’ll talk about how you never really know. And then he’ll
ride out searing pain in an ankle that has a date with a surgeon…soon. And he’ll
stand in front of Dwayne Wade as if he wasn’t a 36 year old on one leg and fight.
And ask Kevin
Garnett if this is the end. You won’t get anything close to an answer. But that’s only because you’re listening, not
looking. For the three years since the
injury in Salt Lake, more than a few said he’d never be the same. That his best
years were now behind him. Instead, he
whipped those voices in his head into a frenzy of doubters that he alone, must
defeat. The result, a season at 36 years old unprecedented in the league’s
history. Dominating a new position they said he couldn’t play, taking shots they said he wouldn’t take. And making them. Again and again.
Do these Celtics
know the final chapter of this era has arrived?
Of course they
do.
The answer’s been on the court every night.
****
But there is
also the reality of the moment. A Game 7
on the road. In a series, the Celtics
have been outscored by the Heat. They’ve
been out shot, they’ve been outrebounded.
Youth is against
the Celtics tonight. Health is against
the Celtics tonight. So is the building.
Logic, history, everything we know about the NBA says the Celtics can’t win.
No team, no
franchise has made more basketball history than the Boston Celtics.
And tonight, five years after reclaiming their birthright place among the NBA elite.
Four years after
regaining the throne.
Three years
after a dominant title defense season.
Two years after
an improbable run that left them inches from the title.
And one year
after they decided to go all-in one last time…the obstacle course of the
shortened season...and the self-inflicted elongated playoffs…has brought them
here.
It is one final
night…one final chance…at one last Final.
And one last
resonant moment of joy, to add to a list five years ago…you couldn’t possibly
have dreamed.
_________________________________________________
(Just for
perspective, I went back to see if I’d said anything about Virginia Tech at the start of our
broadcast that night, April 16, 2007. I hadn't remembered it, but this is how we opened that show…)
WE ARE LIVE AT THE AMERICAN AIRLINES ARENA IN MIAMI . I’M SEAN GRANDE.
IN ABOUT 60 SEOCNDS…WE’RE GOING TO START OUR SHOW…THE
CELTICS TONIGHT OPEN WILL HIT AND WE’LL BRING YOU TONIGHT’S CELTICS GAME WITH
THE HEAT.
BUT WE PAUSE..IN THE UNSETTLING WAKE OF THIS MORNING’S
MASSACRE AT VIRGINIA TECH. MAKING A
BASKETBALL GAME..AT FIRST GLANCE..EVEN MORE TRIVIAL THAN NORMAL.
ONE DAY AFTER WE CELEBRATED THE 60TH
ANNIVERSARY OF JACKIE ROBINSON
INTEGRATING BASEBALL. A DAY THAT REMINDS
US WHY WE CHOSE SPORTS AS A PROFESSION…A DAY THAT REMINDS US WE’RE PROUDEST
WHEN SPORTS LEADS SOCITEY..RATHER THAN FOLLOWS IT.
ONE DAY LATER…A DIFFERENT KIND OF REMINDER. OF WHAT IT IS WE DO..AND WHY WE DO IT.
A DAY IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE TO BELIEVE OUR NATURE EVEN HAS BETTER ANGELS.
THEY SAY SOMETIMES THAT THERE’S SPORTS..AND THERE’S THE REAL
WORLD. BUT THEY FORGET THAT SPORTS OFTEN
IS…WHAT THE REAL WORLD SHOULD BE…AND AS WE WERE SO BRUATLLY REMINDED TODAY…WHAT
IT SO OFTEN IS NOT.
A PLACE TO FIND JOY…WHEN JOY SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND
A PLACE WHERE CONFLICT IS RESOLVED THROUGH COMPETITION…NOT
VIOLENCE.
A PLACE TO FIND INSPIRATION IN WHAT CAN BE ARDOUSLY
ACHIEVED…NOT WHAT CAN SO EASILY BE DESTROYED.
GOD BLESS THE 32 WHO LOST THEIR LIVES THIS MORNING IN BLACKSBURG.
AND MAY THEY FIND PEACE NOW IN THIER
WORLDS...AS WE GO ABOUT THE BUSINESS…OF WHAT BRINGS US PEACE IN OURS.
