I first met Ty Ray through social media roughly 3 years ago. I was immediately impressed by his knowledge of the Celtics franchise. Ty is what I like to call “old school C’s” like me. He remembers the days of Tommy Heinsohn being a coach & player-not just as an announcer. That, and of course the glory years of Bird, Parish, McHale & company.
Ty tells me that his earliest memories of the Celts were during the fantastic 1974 Finals they had against the Milwaukee Bucks.
I became a Celtics fan quite young. My dad was watching the 1974 Finals. What an incredible series. The Celtics overcame a devastating loss on a Jabbar sky hook in game 6 to win on the road at Milwaukee taking the Bucks in 7 games. I was 8 years old. Back in those days there weren’t many channels on the dial. It was the first real sporting event I remember watching with my late father. It was then that I learned just how special the Celtic mystique is. I started to learn about the history. Oh and Tommy Heinsohn with the long hair and plaid pants (underrated coach by the way).
As far as favorite Celtic of all time goes, Ty was torn between Bird and Havlicek.
This is a hard one. Easy choice is Larry Bird for obvious reasons. I’ll go with Hondo! Number 17, John Havlicek. What a competitor! What a magician with the basketball! I spent hours in my bedroom with a nerf basketball pretending to be John. He’s everything I would hope to be as professional athlete. He plays with passion, pride, class, dignity. The consummate professional. I love John, and was thrilled recently to hear that he visits the Celtics often. This franchise needs to be reminded of its greatness. I love Bill Russell, but never of course got to see him play other than on film. His contributions go well beyond basketball. KG was my most recent favorite Celtics. He only one 1 ring but I rank him as one of the most important Celtics players of all-time, because he re-stored greatness to this this proud franchise.
You have to go way back to 1976 for Ty’s most memorable or favorite Celtics moment. And 2002’s remarkable comeback vs the Nets was also high on Ty’s list.
Without a doubt, my favorite moment was watching Game 5 of the 76 finals! The young Suns had the Celtics on the ropes. Boston pulls out a triple overtime thriller to take control of the series. The game had so many twists and turns. Just when you thought the game was decided it wasn’t. There were so many great players, but seldom used Glenn McDonald is the hero for the Celtics. If I had honorable mentions? I saw John Havlicek final game in Seattle. Other honorable mentions include watching the Celtics come from 24 down to beat the Lakers in game four of the 2008 finals. One other highlight the amazing comeback made by Pierce and Toine overcoming a 21 point deficit to beat the Nets in the 2002 ECF.
As always, I asked this week’s Fan Friday subject to sum up just what it is that makes the Boston Celtics so important to them.
The Celtics aren’t just an NBA franchise, but an important part of our history. The Celtics have been part of the fabric of America. This is a team rich in culture and conflict. The Boston franchise has been blessed with great leaders like Red and Russell. Great players like Bird and Pierce. Great announcers like Mike Gorman. And so many great stories. As Celtics fans we are blessed to be part of this amazing journey that continues to this day. Why are they important to me? It’s nice to have a little greatness in my life!
Big thanks to Ty for sharing his story with us. I was fortunate enough to finally meet Ty this past summer. And although he lives on the other side of the US, he’s very involved with CelticsNation through the magic of the internet. You can catch up with all of his podcasts by following him on Twitter.
Thank you all for reading and GO CELTICS. –KWAPT
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