Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
It was late in Brad Stevens’ first season with the Boston Celtics and the team was enduring a stretch in which it would win just one time in 15 tries while stumbling to the finish line of a 25-win season. After another win slipped away, a frustrated Stevens spotted Celtics legend Tommy Heinsohn in one of TD Garden’s small, dimly lit changing rooms and plopped down next to him hoping for some words of wisdom.
“Tommy says, ‘I have a great idea for you: When you get home, open up that computer then close that computer and go have a beer,'” Stevens recalled with a smile. “That was some of the best advice I got.”
To most around Stevens’ age (38), Heinsohn is best known as a referee-disdaining, green-pompom-waving caricature in his role as Celtics TV color commentator. Unfazed by hyperbole, Heinsohn compared undrafted 26-year-old rookie center Greg Stiemsma to his former teammate — and nine-time NBA champion — Bill Russell a few years back, leaving the entire viewing audience (and all of the Internet when the clip started circulating) slack jawed.
But that’s TV Tommy. To Stevens and those steeped in the history of the Celtics organization, Heinsohn is the gold standard. He is Mr. Celtic.
ESPN Boston – Tommy Heinsohn the coach finally gets his just due
Tonight the Basketball Hall of Fame will officially welcome Tommy Heinsohn as a coach and JoJo White as a player. Tommy has essentially been in every role possible for the Celtics organization so he’s certainly one that can hand out advice. His quote above to current Head Coach Brad Stevens is perfect. Sometimes, you just get too buried in the minutiae that you start to get crazy. As good and diligent as Stevens is, following this, or any advice from Tommy is a good idea. Judging by the piece above, it’s easy to see how recent administrations all have a similar thread: discussions with Tommy. Pitino, Doc, Stevens, they’ve all sought out his advice, and why wouldn’t they? This organization is loaded with history and knowledge that they’d be crazy not to. Tommy was fantastic coach, and only did the job for just under a decade. Just like his teams, he went at it hard and was burnt out quicker than most coaches. In one of his books, he admitted that he had discussions with the Houston Rockets to coach there, but ultimately he wanted to stay within the Celtics family and become an announcer. That’s likely the next step for Tommy, making it into the Hall as an announcer, but until then… congrats Tommy! Well deserved. Also, congrats to JoJo… long overdue!
On Page 2: NBA Draft Lottery will remain the same… indefinitely
Those ideas will be tabled, perhaps for years, because the owners want to determine the impact of the new television money on competitive balance. The league’s salary cap will soar to an estimated $90 million after next season.
“There’s a recognition that the lottery is only one aspect of how to build a team,” Silver said following Thursday’s Hall of Fame Family Reunion dinner. “And given the inflow of the new television money next season and the large increase in the cap, ultimately the owners concluded that while we think we need to take a fresh look at the lottery system, let’s wait and look at the system holistically once the new money comes in.
“Because there’s always unintended consequences and at least everyone understands the rules of the road right now. I think we need to be deliberate about any changes we make, so we’ll turn back to it, but we’re going to leave things as is for now.”
When asked how long it will be before the lottery system is revisited, Silver said: “It will be a couple of years. We will have this very significant increase in the cap next year and I think we’ll have a sense then of how our teams react and what sort player movement we see.”
So for now, draft lottery critics should get used to the ping-pong ball system — and the perception that poor teams are purposely losing games to improve their chances at the best players in the draft.
Boston Globe – NBA draft lottery will stay the same, for now
So there you have it. Tanking, in its perceived current form, shall remain a continued discussion in the NBA for a while. The funny thing is, it’s been this way for decades and amazingly it’s just started to get tons of attention in recent years. What’s more amazing is no matter how many intelligent people work for and, cover the NBA, none have been able to come up with a “better” system. Or, one that the vast majority can agree on. Logically, Adam Silver always refers to unintended consequences of new system, yet the current one seems to bring out plenty of negativity as it is. Look, I have no idea what would be better and I’m not going to pretend I do. I also don’t have a huge problem with the current system either. If anyone out there has a better method I’d love to hear it (I’m sure there’s one out there).
And, finally… Coach Popovich has a question for Doc
“I started asking for money from all the players,” explained Rivers. “Getting money from Kevin Garnett was like pulling a tooth. I said, ‘Just give me a hundred dollars! That’s all I want!’ Then finally I told him what I was doing, and Kevin wanted to pay for everyone, saying, ‘I’ll pay for him, I’ll pay for him, I’ll pay for him.’ Then I made them all get all out of the locker room, and I lifted [assistant coach] Kevin Eastman up and we found this one spot where we thought security would never go. When we played the first game of the Finals there, the players got off the bus and went straight in the locker room. We were lucky that it was there.
“But the funniest call during that was when [Gregg Popovich] called me and asked, ‘Is there money in the San Antonio locker room?’”
SI.com – Doc Rivers discusses Jordan, Garnett, and 2010 NBA Finals in Boston visit
This is quite an enjoyable an interesting piece from SI. Doc discusses a bunch of things that he’s previously talked about: 2010 Finals, Big Baby/KG arm wrestling, Tommy Heinsohn, coaching in Boston, coaching Rondo and Pierce, etc. He also delves into current issues with the Clippers and the whole DeAndre Jordan saga. I highly suggest to take the time to read it.
The rest of the links:
ESPNBoston – ‘Honored’ Jo Jo White happy to finally slip on HOF jacket
Boston Globe – Celtics’ title teams of 1970s caught in the middle |
Boston Herald – Bulpett: Hall of a night on tap for Tommy Heinsohn
CSNNE – Heinsohn-White bond now extends to Hall
WEEI – DANNY AINGE’S 25 MOST CONSEQUENTIAL TRADES: 10. GOODBYE, ANTOINE WALKER
MassLive – Boston Celtics trade rumors 2015: Grantland’s Zach Lowe not sure Celtics see Markieff Morris as upgrade | Yes, Boston Celtics great Tommy Heinsohn was brutal on referees as a coach, too | Jo Jo White, Spencer Haywood and 1968 U.S. Olympic team get Basketball Hall of Fame due at last | Boston Celtics legend Tommy Heinsohn tells entertaining story about the time he almost decided to coach the Houston Rockets | John Havlicek, Tommy Heinsohn agree: Boston Celtics great Jo Jo White should have made Hall of Fame a long time ago | Jo Jo White, Basketball Hall of Fame 2015 inductee, made early impact on Wilbraham native Mike McNulty
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