Larry Brown Talks Pitino, Celtics

July 6, 1997

Have you heard Larry Brown's version of how Pitino's interest in coming to Boston was, shall we say, re-piqued? The Celtics had made an early run at the Kentucky coach and, to no one's surprise, came in a bit below what Pitino would consider to leave his bluegrass fiefdom.


They then zeroed in on Brown. There was some talk, some figures exchanged, and soon Brown ran into Pitino at a swank golf course in Los Angeles. As they chatted, Brown told Pitino what the Celtics were offering. That was the end of it, Brown thought, until he heard that Pitino was back into the picture and he was out. The money the Celtics were offering Brown, by the way, is dwarfed by the sum they eventually paid to Pitino. No wonder Brown took some added glee in tweaking the Celtics on draft night

Interesting remark from Eric Montross the other day to the Philadelphia media: "I've really had one solid year in the NBA - my rookie year in Boston under Chris Ford. My second year - I'm not going to name names, and no hard feelings - but it was difficult because winning was not a top priority." Geez, and he wasn't even around last year, when winning wasn't a priority at all