A Sea Of Red

I always put him in the GOAT discussion. He did it as a player and a Coach. He did it under much more difficult circumstances than any player today.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/343 ... on-dies-88

Never really saw him play live. But I do remember him as the Cs coach and as a grumpy old man who refused to sign autographs ... or carry on conversations with a young reporter in the media lounge. Neither did anything to diminish his greatness.

I saw him coach vs Washington Bullets, in one of the 2 NBA games I've seen in person. I believe it was 1976 or 77.

Sly Fox wrote: ↑July 31st, 2022, 5:13 pm Never really saw him play live. But I do remember him as the Cs coach and as a grumpy old man who refused to sign autographs ... or carry on conversations with a young reporter in the media lounge. Neither did anything to diminish his greatness.

I have an autographed copy of his book

Sly Fox wrote: ↑July 31st, 2022, 5:13 pm …and as a grumpy old man who refused to sign autographs ...

This made me laugh. I tried to get one during the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament when I was a kid. I did get Frank Layden’s though. Haha.

ALWAYS belong in EVERY convo about GOATS. He’s second on my list of all-time greats.

Dude could stiff arm with the best of 'em. He sat down to eat next to me at the media dinner in San Antonio a few decades back when he was color commentator for the Celtics. He immediately lifted his hand to me to indicate there would be no conversation.

IMHO, the most over-rated player in the NBA history. His playing on a lot of NBA championship teams was more about those who played around him. When you have a team with NBA Hall of Famer, John Havilcheck coming off the bench is just one example.
Since I heard about his death yesterday, I wondered about how many titles he would have won, if he had to play with a different supporting cast. And how many titles the Celtics would have won with another center.
I was a huge NBA fan back in the day- during his prime- and watched him play hundreds of games, on TV and in person. He wouldn't make my top 10 all-time players. He was an excellent defender however.
Finally, I have heard multiple stories about his personality as Sly has ably described. In addition he saw everything through the prism of race, which was not a positive quality when added to his extreme narcissism.

Always been a Celtic fan. But Russell and Hondo were before my time. Their games were loaded with intangibles. The old Celtic approach to the game is the purest form IMO. Team driven.

Two greatest players that I saw play were Bird & Jordan. They both had inner qualities that others couldn't match. Although, some believe Petrovich was headed there prior to his fatal crash.