“At that camp he was afraid to mix it up,” Sonju said at the time.  “He was really pushed around.  We just didn’t have a place on the roster for him because he wasn’t tough enough.  All of that changed when he got back from Europe.”

Acres averaged 19.5 ppg and 10 rpg during his first season in Belgium, and then followed that up with 20 ppg and 16 rpg a year later.  He was no longer rail thin, and was suddenly unafraid to bang against opposing centers in the post.  He remained the property of the Mavericks until the 1986 NBA Draft, when the team selected Roy Tarpley with the seventh pick overall.  Dallas loved Acres’ potential, but it simply had too many big men on its roster.  Acres was cut loose.  The Celtics, sparse in the middle with Bill Walton battling a foot injury, wasted little time in snatching up the big banger from Inglewood.

Acres’ two seasons with the Celtics were loaded with memories.  While the 1987-88 team failed in its bid to return to NBA Finals, succumbing to the young, hungry Bad Boys from Detroit, Acres was there for the classic Game 7 Eastern Conference Semifinals shootout between Larry Bird and Dominique Wilkins.  He was also there to see Reggie Lewis blossom a year later, as Bird played only six regular season games due to injury.  From Boston, it was on to Orlando for the 1989-90 campaign, where he would play three seasons, before finishing with Houston (6 games) and Washington (12) during the 1992-93 season.  Through it all, his time with the Celtics remains the biggest thrill of his basketball career.  He treasures his time spent playing for the team he once rooted against, and smiles at the thought of his reserve role with the Big Three.

The rest of us should be so lucky.

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