2008.06.18
Celtics a pleasure to watch
The story of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen sacrificing for the good of the team has been talked about and written about throughout this season. When Danny Ainge put this Boston Celtics team together, I didn't believe it would end with an NBA championship. Too many egos, too much of a chance of injury and too many unknowns among the role players. A team coming together like this proves again that money doesn't have to be the ultimate pursuit of a millionaire athlete. You need defense to win a championship, but more than that you need players sold out to the team. -- Jeff Gilbert
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Jeff, you are absolutely correct on players being "sold out to the team" to "win a championship." Spurs Coach Popovich himself said explicitly that his players are champions because to play for his team, first thing is they need to check their egos at the door (See: superstar Tim Duncan, arguably the most selfless and reserved sports star I have ever seen. Also see stars Tony Parker, who will actually maintain a long celebrity marriage to Eva Longoria, and Manu Ginobili, the greatest Argentine of all time). The Spurs players care about winning over their points, number of touches, and minutes. We saw the exact same thing with the '04 Pistons beating up the crumbling Lakers dynasty (even the talented but hot-headed Rasheed Wallace had himself in check, kind of what the Patriots did for Randy Moss).
One thing I would like to point out though, Kevin Garnett has ALWAYS been a team player even when he was the undisputed main guy at the twolves. Same can be said for the always classy gentleman Ray Allen. Paul Pierce, give him credit for sticking with Boston thru thick and thin the same way that the city stuck with him.
Comment by Ken Kazuma — June 20, 2008 @ 12:30 am
Ken, you are right about those guys being unselfish players in the first place. Danny Ainge ought to get a ton of credit for not just bringing in good players, but for bringing in the right kind of players.
Comment by Jeff Gilbert — June 23, 2008 @ 8:56 pm