The Michael Dukakis Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan | Friday, April 1st 2005
His life and career,
while broadly – and
indelibly – linked to his home state of Massachusetts,
remain curiously intertwined with the
 most successful
franchise in NBA history.
From his first political office in his hometown of
Brookline, to his three-terms as
governor, to his 1988 Democratic presidential nomination, Michael Stanley Dukakis is also
something of a barometer when it comes to all things
Boston Celtics, as his political achievements coincide
serendipitously with the athletic
achievements of the men in green
and white. The fortunes of both seem almost in eerie
lockstep, rising and falling together through the years,
intersecting at different points and on different
planes, a quasi-partnership at times, a mutual
admiration at others, a noteworthy relationship that has
lasted at some level for the better part of six decades.
Politics, as the pundits like to
say, make strange bedfellows. Where else can a 5'-8"
son of Greek immigrants – a brainy sort of man, and
someone known for his towering intellect rather than his
athletic prowess – share the stage with giants more than
a foot taller, men responsible for some of the biggest
moments in sport? An odd fit, perhaps, but consider:
Dukakis, born November 3rd, 1933, was deceptively
athletic despite his diminutive size and enormous
intellect. He was a solid basketball player at
Brookline High School, the captain of the tennis team
and, as a senior, he finished 57th in the Boston
Marathon. In a cosmic connection reminiscent of "The
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon", the marathon turns out to
be the brainchild of George V. Brown, whose son – Walter
– would go on to found the Boston Celtics.
Dukakis' father came to the United States in 1912,
unable to speak English but determined to carve out a
slice of the American Dream. He entered Harvard Medical
School eight years later (the first Greek to do so) and
emerged as a physician and surgeon who delivered babies. It was exactly
this type of can-do spirit that led Dukakis into the
political arena, where he would later come within an
electoral college of the most powerful office on the
planet. His mother, Euterpe, was equally determined to
see the family succeed; she was a strict disciplinarian
who helped keep young Michael on the right track,
refusing to let her son coast academically. A teacher,
she pushed Dukakis to excel in the classroom, and to
also pay attention to the political process in their new
country. Dukakis responded on both counts; he scored
consistently high marks at Brookline High School en
route to becoming student council president, his first
elected office of any capacity. From there it was on
to Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, where Dukakis
reprised his act as student government leader. He also
became socially active, challenging the despicable
notion that whites and blacks should be segregated from
one another. Like the great Bill Russell, he simply
refused to be corralled by bigotry and hatred, choosing
instead to speak out against all forms of racism. But
unlike many politically-minded youth of the day,
Dukakis' commitment went beyond mere lip service: His
fight against three local barbers in the borough of
Swarthmore who refused to cut the hair
of black students, while partially motivated by
financial need, remains an iconic symbol of his fight
for civil rights.
Dukakis entered Swarthmore
during the fall of 1951, one year after Walter Brown
hired a fiery young redhead to breathe life into his
struggling Boston Celtics. The arrival of Arnold "Red"
Auerbach signaled a new beginning for the franchise.
Flashy point guard Bob Cousy also joined the team for
the 1950-51 season, teaming with Bill Sharman to form
one of the best backcourt tandems in the league. By the
time Dukakis entered Harvard Law School, Bill Russell,
Sam Jones and Tommy Heinsohn were wearing the
green-and-white, and the Boston Celtics were champions
of the world.
Cousy, of course, was a huge
collegiate star at Holy Cross. Dukakis admired him
greatly. They were both the sons of immigrant parents,
and they both grew up believing in equality among men.
While Cousy was revolutionizing the point guard position
with his frenetic playing style and superb ballhandling
ability, Dukakis was busy earning a reputation in
political circles as a maverick reformer.
Two years after entering law
school, Dukakis tackled Brookline politics, winning a
seat at the town meeting
–
the year was 1959, the same year that Russell
and the Celtics won the first of eight consecutive NBA
championships, a run unmatched in any major professional
sport. The election also marked the beginning of
Dukakis' climb to the top of Massachusetts politics. By
1962, the Celtics were fast becoming a dynasty, as
players such as Tom "Satch" Sanders and John Havlicek
were added to an already explosive mix. Dukakis won a
seat in the state legislature that same year, a run that
would coincide neatly with the Celtics' domination of
the 1960s.
It was following the 1966-67 season – the only season
that Russell & Co. failed to win a championship that
decade – that Auerbach (now the team's general manager)
selected a lightning-quick guard from New York
University. Mal Graham, an All-America honoree in
college, was viewed by many within the organization as
the team's eventual replacement for KC Jones at the
point. It didn’t work out that way: A member of two
championship teams with the Celtics, Graham's career was
cut short by a rare illness – one that would, at first,
send him from the Boston Garden's fabled parquet floor
to the bench, and then later to a bench of a distinctly
different category. Forced into retirement after two
seasons, Graham channeled his energies in a whole other
direction, later graduating from the Boston College
School of Law. He worked hard at his new profession,
earning a reputation for decency and fairness. In 1986,
Dukakis – then Governor Dukakis – appointed Graham to
the position of Superior Court Justice. And once again,
Dukakis' curious ties to the Boston Celtics were on full
display.
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