How's this for a Dream Team?
Rajon Rondo (point guard), Ray Allen (shooting guard), Paul Pierce (small forward), Kevin Garnett (power forward), Kendrick Perkins (center), Rasheed Wallace (backup center/power forward) and Grant Hill (backup shooting guard/small forward).
As for the backup point guard position, does it really matter?
The Boston Celtics still have some work to do in free agency — they will know about Hill, who is also considering the Phoenix Suns and New York Knicks, probably by the end of this weekend — but they are king of the hill again.
As Kevin Garnett said at yesterday's press conference to introduce Wallace, "This feels like '80s basketball all over again."
Garnett must have been an impressionable young boy because he was only 10 when the Celtics won their third title of the 1980s. But he's right. It really feels like old times around here.
There is a certitude that the Celtics are going to be there, not only in November, December and January, but May and early June.
They now will have four, five or possibly six players who care only about winning.
All of them have their enormous bank accounts. All of them, except Hill, have won championships before. All of them have only one thing in mind.
"The thing about coming here is it is all about winning," said Wallace, who has played 13 seasons, the last 5 1/2 with the Detroit Pistons.
The courting of Wallace sealed the deal. As we saw yesterday, with Garnett, Pierce and Allen all here for the announcement, this was not your average deal.
All three realize that Wallace is the difference between competing for and winning a championship. Oher factors are involved, like luck, injuries and the Los Angeles Lakers, but those don't matter right now.
Holding off on honoring McNair
Steve McNair is dead at 36. That is a tragedy.
His story, at least the football one, was inspirational. He grew up very poor in Mississippi. He went to little Alcorn State, a Division 1-AA football school (see UNH). And he became a star in the National Football League, leading the Tennessee Titans to within one yard of a Super Bowl championship while making many millions along the way.
He appeared to be a likeable guy, always seemingly respected by his teammates and coaches.
And nobody deserves what he had happen to him — four bullets to the body while asleep.
But before we honor or glorify him, as the Titans have said they would, let's wait for McNair's entire story to play out. And that story, by the way, is getting sadder and uglier by the day.
I ask this question: Is it better to be known as a Hall of Fame quarterback or a great husband, father and/or person?
On Sundays in the fall, I know the answer. Win the damn game ... or you "bleep."
I'm talking about the 40 or so years after the career is over, when the dust has settled and real life with real issues and real drama takes hold.
We throw the term "hero" around like it's a penny, especially when it comes to sports. And we heard McNair and that term paired a few times the last few days. That is a big mistake here.
If only a quarter of what we've heard about McNair's family situation and philandering is true, this tragedy is even tougher to swallow.
Let's not lose focus of the real losers here, McNair's family, which includes four boys.
Be careful worshiping the wrong people. Maybe it would be better to focus on the McNair boys' fate.
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E-mail Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.
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