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Authors: Larry Bird, Jackie Macmullan
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keep the fans smiling through what was probably going to be a pretty awful year. For a guy who had coached successfully in the league for years, he found that pretty insulting. Finally, Gaston told me he was thinking of M. L. Carr to take Dave’s place. Even though M. L. and I were friends, I had my doubts. I just couldn’t see M. L. in that role.
M. L. is a great person. He has lots of energy, and he’s great with people. You always wanted him on your side, because he was always getting the crowd riled up—and sometimes the other team too. He was the kind of guy that would back you up out there no matter what, and he was great in the locker room. He always knew how to break up tension and keep everybody loose. People forget M. L. was also a pretty good basketball player. He led the league in steals for Detroit before he came to Boston. He has always been someone I considered a friend, but I just didn’t feel he was the right person to run the Celtics franchise. I wasn’t convinced he was serious enough about the job to do what needed to be done. To me, a big personality wasn’t going to be enough to help Boston win another championship. I wasn’t convinced he had thought this decision through, to run an entire basketball team.
Right away I could tell M. L.’s basketball judgment was much different than mine. I would listen to him talk and think, “Did we just watch the same game?”
There were a number of things the Celtics did while M. L. and Paul Gaston were in charge that bothered me, but Sherman was the one that really got to me. He was a tough point guard, only about 5 foot 9, and even though he didn’t lead Boston to a championship, at least he was out there every night competing. The only reason the Celtics had a chance in the 1995 first-round playoff series against Orlando (they lost in four games) was because Sherman Douglas almost singlehandedly kept them in it. He wasn’t the best player on that team, but he was the leader, the way Mark Jackson has been for the Indiana Pacers.
You’d think a player would be rewarded for that, but instead the Celtics went out and offered Dana Barros, who was a free agent, a huge contract. Paul and M. L. told me about it in a meeting we had up in Boston, and I was sitting there wondering, “Where is Dana going to play?” I told them he wasn’t a point guard, and besides, we had Sherman. But they started talking about how Dana was a local kid from Mattapan, Massachusetts, and Boston College, and the fans would love him, and that’s when I realized the decision really didn’t have very much to do with basketball. I told them Sherman was their MVP, and they nodded their heads, but they weren’t listening. They had already made up their minds. So they signed Dana Barros, and Sherman got ticked. He wasn’t stupid. He knew they weren’t going to bring Barros in there to sit on the bench. This was right at the beginning of the season, and there had been a newspaper article quoting Gaston talking about the business aspect of owning the Celtics that had him saying, “I think I know our team stinks.” Gaston said he was misquoted, but Sherman wasn’t buying it. When reporters asked Sherman what he thought about Gaston’s comments, he said, “I think he stinks too.”
They ended up sending Sherman to Milwaukee for Todd Day, who was a shooting guard, and Alton Lister, a center who was around when I was a player. It was a terrible trade. Todd Day was a selfish player who thought about only one thing—how to get himself a shot. Alton Lister was in his late thirties and on the downside of his career. When I heard about the deal, that’s the day I made up my mind I wouldn’t be in Boston too much longer.
I don’t have anything against Dana Barros. He works hard, and he’s a nice kid, but Boston paid him half a million more a season than they had to, just to get him. Dana had one great year, in 1994–95 with Philadelphia, when he averaged over 20 points a night,
M. L. is a great person. He has lots of energy, and he’s great with people. You always wanted him on your side, because he was always getting the crowd riled up—and sometimes the other team too. He was the kind of guy that would back you up out there no matter what, and he was great in the locker room. He always knew how to break up tension and keep everybody loose. People forget M. L. was also a pretty good basketball player. He led the league in steals for Detroit before he came to Boston. He has always been someone I considered a friend, but I just didn’t feel he was the right person to run the Celtics franchise. I wasn’t convinced he was serious enough about the job to do what needed to be done. To me, a big personality wasn’t going to be enough to help Boston win another championship. I wasn’t convinced he had thought this decision through, to run an entire basketball team.
Right away I could tell M. L.’s basketball judgment was much different than mine. I would listen to him talk and think, “Did we just watch the same game?”
There were a number of things the Celtics did while M. L. and Paul Gaston were in charge that bothered me, but Sherman was the one that really got to me. He was a tough point guard, only about 5 foot 9, and even though he didn’t lead Boston to a championship, at least he was out there every night competing. The only reason the Celtics had a chance in the 1995 first-round playoff series against Orlando (they lost in four games) was because Sherman Douglas almost singlehandedly kept them in it. He wasn’t the best player on that team, but he was the leader, the way Mark Jackson has been for the Indiana Pacers.
You’d think a player would be rewarded for that, but instead the Celtics went out and offered Dana Barros, who was a free agent, a huge contract. Paul and M. L. told me about it in a meeting we had up in Boston, and I was sitting there wondering, “Where is Dana going to play?” I told them he wasn’t a point guard, and besides, we had Sherman. But they started talking about how Dana was a local kid from Mattapan, Massachusetts, and Boston College, and the fans would love him, and that’s when I realized the decision really didn’t have very much to do with basketball. I told them Sherman was their MVP, and they nodded their heads, but they weren’t listening. They had already made up their minds. So they signed Dana Barros, and Sherman got ticked. He wasn’t stupid. He knew they weren’t going to bring Barros in there to sit on the bench. This was right at the beginning of the season, and there had been a newspaper article quoting Gaston talking about the business aspect of owning the Celtics that had him saying, “I think I know our team stinks.” Gaston said he was misquoted, but Sherman wasn’t buying it. When reporters asked Sherman what he thought about Gaston’s comments, he said, “I think he stinks too.”
They ended up sending Sherman to Milwaukee for Todd Day, who was a shooting guard, and Alton Lister, a center who was around when I was a player. It was a terrible trade. Todd Day was a selfish player who thought about only one thing—how to get himself a shot. Alton Lister was in his late thirties and on the downside of his career. When I heard about the deal, that’s the day I made up my mind I wouldn’t be in Boston too much longer.
I don’t have anything against Dana Barros. He works hard, and he’s a nice kid, but Boston paid him half a million more a season than they had to, just to get him. Dana had one great year, in 1994–95 with Philadelphia, when he averaged over 20 points a night,
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