My Take on the 1987-88 Boston Celtics

Celtics historians remember the 1987-88 Boston Celtics as weaker than the 1987 team. Well they should. They won two fewer regular season games than the 1987 team, and got beat in the ECFs, unlike the 1987 team, which got beat in the Finals.

But the 1987 and 1988 teams shared one thing in common. Their benches were two of the most maligned in Celtics' history. What I didn't remember, however, was that the Celtics had Robert Parish, Bill Walton, and Artis Gilmore practicing together from February until April.

That's quite a threesome when you stop and think about it.

Although Artis Gilmore still is awaiting his call from the Hall, the man was a force in the paint, and, I suggest, had he teamed up with Larry Bird and Kevin McHale for ten years, would already be sporting a bust in Springfield. Bill Walton, of course, is one of the greatest all-around big men in the history of college and professional basketball. He played forward along side the Chief for much of the 1985-86 season, including the NBA Finals.

Even if Gilmore and Walton had never played at more than 75% of full capacity during the 1988 season, a big man rotation of Bird-McHale-Parish-Walton-Gilmore might have topped the big man rotation of the 1986 team. You throw in a couple of creative moves like starting Jim Paxson at the two and bringing Danny Ainge in at the back-up point guard and maybe even moving Reggie Lewis up in the rotation, and all of a sudden that bench is cooking with gas.

Alas, it never happened. Walton hurt himself again. Gilmore was a shadow of his former self. KC Jones ran the starters into the ground, keeping Reggie Lewis as far from meaningful playing time that year as Doc Rivers has kept JR Giddens this year. Even if everyone had been healthy and properly used, the Celtics would still have been short on athleticism and long in tooth. So I'm not sure a healthy Walton and Gilmore would have made a difference.

But it would have been a whole lot more fun to watch them than it was watching Fred Roberts and Brad Lohaus come off the bench.