We are Family

Most of us are familiar with the text message Larry Bird sent to Danny Ainge midway through the third quarter of game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals. As it turns out, Kevin McHale texted Ainge shortly thereafter with a similar message.

Way back on December 9, 2007, I proposed that Ainge arrange for members of the last Celtics championship to participate in the next banner-hoisting ceremony via a private, closed-circuit party. I mean, you couldn't expect the GM's of the Indiana Pacers and the Minnesota Timberwolves to attend the ceremony in public, especially after McHale had been accused by Laker fans of turning down a better trade (Odom/Bynum) for a worse trade (Al Jefferson and picks), simply because McHale hates the Lakers and once played for the Celtics.

Turns out Ainge, Bird, and McHale decided to throw a virtual banner-hoisting ceremony for themselves. Now if we can just figure out when and how Bill Walton communicated with the others.

LINK

So there it was for all the world to see. Dave Cowens, standing at center court, handing the Eastern Conference Championship trophy to Wyc Grousbeck, and exhorting him on to banner 18. Danny Ainge was standing behind #18, smiling ear-to-ear.

You got that?

1974 & 1976 in front.

1984 & 1986 in back.

I became a Celtics fan in 1974. That means I've been bleeding green longer than Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish or Danny Ainge. I'd include Bill Walton, but I'm pretty sure he has been bleeding green since birth. So he's got me by a few years.

In any event, my being is one with the universe when different generations of the Celtic family reunite around a championship campaign. After all, Celtics fans are as much a part of that family as are the players, coaches, and management.

A common theme on this blog.