Seething Celts Win 16th Title

That was the hed in the Toledo Blade's sports section June 9, 1986.  Pretty much all of my college kids--non-traditional students aside--weren't alive the last time Boston won an NBA championship.

As I was reading the recap of last night's victory, I couldn't help but remember how Game 6 was reported 22 years ago.  Here's an excerpt from my yellowing newspaper clipping:

The coronation came yesterday, a 114-97 destruction of the Houston Rockets for their sweet 16th NBA championship, but the actual seizure of power came the day before in a grim, silent, smoldering practice at deserted Boston Garden.

Before practice, the Boston Celtics sat down to watch films of their 16-point loss in Game 5 Thursday night.  They had read strong statements made in the newspapers by some Rockets that they meant to sack Boston, and it steamed them.  Then they watched the accursed films, and that steamed them even more.  The room was silent, but seething.

"I didn't say a word when the films ended except, 'Let's go,'" said Boston coach KC Jones...Larry Bird was "quieter than I've ever seen him," Jones said.  Danger.  Dennis Johnson asked Jones if he could guard Robert Reid, and Robert Parish said he wanted a piece of Rock Ralph Sampson...

Robert Reid made five of 13 shots and couldn't get the ball into the Towers in the face of Johnson's harassment.  To the delight of the Boston crowd, which came armed with signs such as Sampson for Miss Congeniality, and Sampson Fights Like Delilah, Sugar Ray [Sampson was ejected in Game 5 for taking a swing at Celts' guard Jerry Sichting] turned pacifist with a four-for-12, eight-point fade.
...
In the first half, they forced 14 Rocket turnovers and recorded nine steals--23 possessions without a shot--to take a 55-38 lead that made the final two quarters superfluous.

Even Larry Bird's left wing is golden as Celtics win NBA championship [I tried finding this picture online, but the closest I came was another lefty shot against McCray]

By then, Kevin McHale had 21 points and nine rebounds, and Larry Bird, MVP of the season, finals, postfinals, summer, and preseason, was already closing in on a triple double.  He had 16 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists in the first half.
...
With 11 minutes left, Bird wove through traffic away from the basket and swished his last three-pointer of the season, touching off a reaction that created the danger of hearing loss.
...
"I told him, 'Great series,'" Reid said.  "I said, 'You played well, and your team played well.  From me to you personally, congratulations.'

"He said, 'Thanks,' then, 'Man, I'm tired.'"

So tired he'll take the next two or three weeks off before taking a basketball out on the court to start defense of his title and status as best in the game, maybe best ever.

One might correctly argue that Michael Jordan was a greater player, but Bird was always my hoops hero.  I was captivated by his friendly rivalry with Magic, not to mention his amazing court sense and uncanny shooting.  Hell, I even saw him dunk once, which inspired this white-guy-who-can-in-fact-jump on the court.

What's even more indelibly imprinted in my memory is when I was delivering papers a little over a week later and I was stunned to see Len Bias, just drafted by the Celts second overall, had died.

University of Maryland all-America basketball player Len Bias collapsed in his dormitory suite early yesterday morning and two hours later was pronounced dead of cardiac arrest at Leland Memorial Hospital in Riverdale.

Evidence of cocaine was found in a urine sample taken at the hospital as an emergency medical team labored from 6:50 to 8:50 a.m. to revive him, police sources said. Maj. James Ross, head of criminal investigations for Prince George's County police, said even if cocaine had been detected, it would not be possible to tell if that had contributed to Bias' death without further tests.

Medical experts said sudden cardiac arrest in a 22-year-old in apparent top physical shape could have been caused by cocaine, by a heart ailment that even frequent examinations might have missed, or by a combination of the two.

Sources said Bias passed a physical—including a urinalysis to test for drugs—administered May 27 by the Boston Celtics, who Tuesday made him the No. 2 overall pick in the National Basketball Association draft. Bias showed no sign of a heart ailment in yearly team physicals, including a special study to look for hidden heart disease, and no evidence of drug use in urine tests late last season, according to University of Maryland physicians.

From interviews with Bias' family, teammates and friends, a picture of his last hours emerges: He flew in from Boston with his father, went to the family home in landover about 11 p.m., arrived at College Park around midnight, ate crabs in his dormitory suite with teammates and a member of the football team until about 2 a.m., drove off alone and was seen at an off-campus gathering, and returned to his dorm about 3 a.m. He collapsed some time after 6 a.m., while talking with teammate Terry Long.

Bias was unconscious and was not breathing when county ambulance attendants arrived at his dormitory suite at 6:36 a.m.—four minutes after they were called and six minutes before a mobile intensive care unit arrived—and he never regained consciousness nor breathed on his own, said Dr. Edward Wilson, chief emergency room physician at Leland Memorial.

I was folding papers and saw the story, then just sat there for a while reading the whole thing and just being bummed.  Bias was an extraordinary player and it looked like he was going to be Boston's franchise player in the post-Bird era.  What a gloomy ride that was along my route.

It's astonishing to think that Bias would be retired by now, perhaps watching his old team from the stands, telling KG that he was proud of him and the rest of the new Big Three.  What a waste of potential.

ntodd