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.
Kevin Garnett is suing an accountant and his firm, alleging they helped a wealth manager steal $77 million from the retired Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics star.
The federal malpractice lawsuit alleges Kentucky-based accountant Michael Wertheim and Welenken CPAs enabled Charles Banks IV of Atlanta to defraud Garnett through businesses in which Garnett and Banks shared an interest.
This is really gross. I mean, Garnett, notably, earned $326 million over his NBA career–the most of any player in history. Losing $77 million is a considerable, but not a devastating, hit.
It’s also a reminder of the other sort of financial predator out there. There are guys like Antoine Walker who lose their shirts because they’re just not responsible with their money.
Then there are guys like Garnett and Tim Duncan. They did their best to be responsible, in fact Garnett’s lawsuit states that his accountants put him on an allowance and set budgets for him. They got played by a slightly smoother brand of crook–the sort that can wrap up theft in an attractive package of plausible sounding business and property investments.
In this case–for whatever it’s worth–it looks like Garnett has a pretty solid case. Among other things, his accountants had a responsibility to sniff out irregularities in the books Banks was cooking. If Garnett’s attorneys can show that his accountants overlooked irregularities in Banks’ investments, he should be able to prevail in court.
However, it’ll probably be a rather empty victory. That $77 million, like the $7 million that Banks stole from Duncan, is long gone.
Page 2: Where Terry Rozier’s looking forward to Kyrie’s return
Irving’s return will send him back to the bench and limit his minutes to an extent, one offseason removed from proof he deserves to start for an NBA team.
Rozier isn’t looking at it that way, however.
“I know I’ll be fine,” Rozier told reporters at a community event on Thursday. “I’m not so much worried about it. I’m happy Kyrie’s back. It’s gonna make even it more fun, more challenging in practice, more stuff talking. You’ve got to love it. I’m just as happy as anybody that he’s back. I’m gonna learn more and it’s going to be a great season.”
Of course, Terry’s just saying what you expect him to say in the circumstances. At the same time, there’s a lot to be said for the way the Celtics’ up front management (both front office and coaching staff) has given these guys a level of comfort. Marcus Smart just signed a fairly decent contract (not the kind his agent thought he could get, but also more than he was offered by any other team), and that sends a message to the rest of the guys on the team: Management isn’t going to narrow your role and then try to sign you to a discounted deal.
And, as far as the stuff on the court goes, you’d be a poor student of sports psychology if you thought that any of these guys were intimidated by having an all-star caliber player back in practices. These guys end up where they are not by luck–and in Terry’s case, given how short he is, not because they just sort of ended up playing basketball by default because of how tall they were. They’re where they’re at not just because of their athletic ability, but because of how badly they wanted to be there.
What goes along with that is a pretty king-size willingness to take on anyone anywhere.
Finally: Catching up with HOF inductees with Celtic connections
Ok. So we know that Ray Allen’s going in the HOF–but he’s not the only ex-Celtic headed into the Hall of Fame.
There’s Charlie Scott, a member of the Celtics’ 1976 title team–and a key contributor that year. He rarely started (starting lineup info is hard to come by for that era, ed.), but ended the season averaging almost 18 points a game. Scott was the first black basketball player at the University of North Carolina–in 1967.
One of the reasons why the Celtics got Sam Jones back in ’57 was because the South was still deeply segregated. Sam was largely invisible playing for North Carolina Central, a historically black university that few people had even heard of. Jones had already won 8 of his ten championships before UNC admitted a black basketball player.
Also being inducted: Dino Radja, who took a moment to reminisce about Drazen Petrovic:
Before the internet made the world smaller, they were two Croatians in a foreign country. Radja said they’d often share late night phone calls from wherever their respective NBA teams had played.
“We were great friends. He used to call me in the middle of the night talking about water polo, soccer, handball,” Radja said shaking his head. “We would talk for an hour, at least every time.”
Radja’s being inducted for his work with the Croatian national basketball program, which has become one of the best in Europe; but he still considers himself a Celtic:
“Once a Celtic, always a Celtic. I really understand that sentence. Every time I go to the U.S. I want to land in Boston first. Every time I’m landing I become emotional. I love my time in Boston. I see my friends, have dinner and talk about good old times,” he said. “The people who still work for the Celtics make you feel welcome and appreciated and part of the organization.”
Lefty Driesell’s also being inducted, and he’s got a story about when Red Auerbach met Charlie Scott and Pete Maravich
I want to tell y’all something about these two clowns. I bet they’ll be two of the best shoe salesmen in the history of the game
Pete and Charlie got the last laugh on that one: Both of them ended up on Red’s payroll.
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