By: Michael D. McClellan | He was on the court for less than two minutes in the third overtime of The Greatest Game Ever Played, and yet Glenn McDonald’s contributions loomed extraordinarily large on that day, as he and his Boston Celtic teammates pursued a league-record 13th NBA Championship. Who knows what may have happened had […]
By: Michael D. McClellan | When Mel Counts joined the Boston Celtics as a rookie in the fall of 1964, he did so with the knowledge that he would probably never earn a starting position, and that his name might forever be a footnote to one of the greatest dynasties in the history of team sport. Standing […]
Written By: Michael D. McClellan | There are those who say that Indiana is the cradle of basketball civilization, the epicenter of a hardwood explosion that reaches all corners of the globe. From Sydney to Slovenia, the NBA as we now know it reflects the far-reaching impact of the game’s legendary ambassadors, basketball gods known to the […]
By: Michael D. McClellan | The menacing scowl, shaved head, and ripped physique are all part of the package, one that ushers in a new, physical breed of player into the NBA. He predates the baggy shorts era but plays his way into it, his swagger at home in a league that grows increasingly connected to […]
Written By: Michael D. McClellan | Red Auerbach is only weeks removed from his 85th birthday, and the cigar-smoking patriarch of the Boston Celtics is as sharp—in mind and tongue—as ever. He answers the telephone, listening silently in a way that reminds me of Marlon Brando’s character in The Godfather, a comparison that doesn’t seem far from the truth. […]