RedsArmy presents Fan Friday #38: “Not Feeling Minnesota”

Terrell H. is a Celtics fan from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He’s been a fan of the Celtics since around 2007 when his hero, Kevin Garnett, was traded there. As a boy, seeing KG play at the Target Center was what first got him interested in hoops. He immediately “connected” with Garnett, and was amazed at his intensity:

I have been a Celtic Fan since the Summer of 2007, the KG trade made me a fan, Minnesota Timberwolves had me fed up at that point, they made bad decisions every year, but I’m glad they did the trade because it felt like destiny. I noticed all the things they the Celtics are about and have done matched a lot of things in my life, I noticed that. People can talk about how KG brought me to the Celtics, but I will Talk about how I plan on staying a Celtic fan for the rest of my life. It feels like it was my destiny to be a Celtics fan because this organization embodies what it means to be the best, even when the team was doing sub par in the 90’s- early 00’s the fans always were there.

Terrell lists his all-time favorite Celtic as Bill Russell. He says that Bill “embodies” what it is to be a Celtic and that he is a “stand-up guy”.  I think we can all agree on that.

Terrell’s favorite number has always been 17, as his birthday falls on the 17th. The Celtics were in the process of winning Banner 16 in 1986 when Terrell was born. So when Boston raised Banner 17 to the rafters in 2008, it was the first Celtics championship he was able to witness. During the 2008 Finals, Terrell was actually living in Los Angeles. His fondest memory (one of mine too) is of Boston’s miraculous comeback in Game 4:

2008 Game 4 of the NBA finals- Celtics vs. Lakers. I was living in Los Angeles (so it was already tough as I was the only Celtic fan in every place I went) at the time. During Game 3 I was at a bar and almost got into a fight for reppin the C’s and having my green on. I was trying to stay calm that whole week. Well here comes game 4. I was mad as I had to work at the Target in West Hollywood. I had all my Celtics gear on under my uniform and people were just messing with me all day. Coworkers, strangers, everyone. I got to check the score on my break. As I walked into the break room, they had the game on the big screen & the Lakers were up. By he time I headed back to the sales floor, it was the 3rd and the Celtics where down 24. I was really sad, and people kept making a point to remind me as they had seen my Celtics gear. Not even a full hour went by when my team leader approached me and said “you look down- don’t you know what happened?” I replied “No-what happened?” he said ” The Celtics came back and their up by 5!” I thought he was lying, but sure enough I dropped everything, and ran down to the break room, just in time to see a guy wearing #20 drive to the basket with a sweet left hand finish. I was elated as the Celtics went on to win 97-91.

Terrell says that he really relates to how with the Celtics, it’s “them against the world”. They are certainly not the darlings of the league:

The Celtics remind me of me, people always under estimate them, sometimes it seems like me against the world, then I turn on the TV to see, the Celtics VS. The NBA. Seems like they are hating on the C’s organization, but they praise teams like the Lakers, Heat etc…but the Celtics will fight til the very end-and so will I.

I want to thank Terrell for sharing his story & participating in Fan Friday, and thank you all for reading. UBUNTU.