"There were two opportunities I probably should have made happen. One
was when we beat the Celtics in the playoffs in Milwaukee [in 1983].
They were going to make a coaching change. I think Bill Fitch was their
coach at the time. After the last game, Red [Auerbach] walked by and
asked me, 'Would you ever consider coaching the Boston Celtics?'
"I
said, 'Red, it would be a dream come true. But the guy's been so good
to me here, I really couldn't leave [Bucks owner] Jim Fitzgerald.' But
looking back as a career move, that's probably something I should have
done at that point. They had a really good championship-caliber team and
that would have solved all the problems if I would have done that. K.C.
Jones got that job and did a really good job and they won a few
championships. Looking back, I was a loyal guy because Jim Fitzgerald
was so good to me, so I don't really regret not going. But as a career
move I probably should have.
I've never been a fan of Don Nelson. He's flat-out over-rated. He builds offensive-minded teams that never accomplish much in the playoffs. He's never met a player he didn't want to trade (including Patrick Ewing). And when he realizes he's destroyed the roster, he walks.
But… that's not to say he couldn't have helped the Celtics twenty-five years ago. Hell, they won with K.C. Jones, the Mike Brown of the 80s.
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