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By: Michael D. McClellan |\u00a0<\/strong>He played for the Boston Celtics during a period of nervous change, joining the club just as the Big Three was beginning to break down, its parts worn from too many minutes and too little rest, the post-Bias funk settling in like a fog, thick, heavy and unrelenting.\u00a0 He played valiantly through the Jimmy Rodgers and Chris Ford Eras, which is to say that he competed during the slow decay of basketball\u2019s greatest franchise, his sizable contributions spilled in fruitless pursuit of the NBA\u2019s greatest prize.\u00a0 He was there as Larry Bird lay prone in front of the Celtic bench, Bird\u2019s back so creaky that his greatness, routinely on display for more than a decade, could only be coaxed out between bouts with pain.\u00a0 He was there for Larry Legend\u2019s inevitable retirement, as he was for Kevin McHale\u2019s farewell one season later.\u00a0 He grieved through the tragic loss of Reggie Lewis, and he played through final days of the historic Boston Garden.\u00a0 That Kevin Gamble \u2013 nicknamed Oscar by former teammate Danny Ainge \u2013 was able to do any of these things is simply amazing, especially for a player cut by two NBA franchises, passed on by the rest, and then forced to toil overseas.\u00a0 That Gamble could resurrect his career in the satellite world of the Continental Basketball Association and then, against all odds, play six integral seasons with the Boston Celtics, is as much a testament to his perseverance and work ethic as it is to his high basketball IQ.<\/p>\n Gamble’s basketball odyssey got its start in his hometown of Springfield, Illinois.\u00a0 He entered Lanphier High just hoping to make the team, but by his senior season Gamble was the star, leading the Lions to the 1983 Illinois Class AA State Basketball Championship.\u00a0 Gamble scored 67 points in those four tournament games, which culminated with a 57-53 win over Peoria High School.\u00a0 Lanphier finished the \u201983 season 30-3, with Gamble was the only Lanphier player selected to the All-Tournament team.<\/p>\n While few questioned Gamble’s ability at the high school level, many college recruiters wondered whether he possessed legitimate Division I basketball potential.\u00a0 Gamble believed otherwise.\u00a0 He was 6\u20197\u201d with a quick first step and decent range.\u00a0 He was strong enough to compete beneath the basket, yet quick enough to play the wing.\u00a0 Still, there was only tepid interest at the major college level, forcing Gamble to enroll at Lincoln Junior College, where he played for two seasons under the tutelage of head coach Alan Pickering.<\/p>\n Two year later, Gamble transferred to the University of Iowa.\u00a0 Head coach George Raveling kept the junior college transfer pinned to the bench for much of the season.\u00a0 Gamble’s disappointing junior year took a turn when, as if by divine intervention, Raveling bolted the Iowa program to take the head coaching job at USC.\u00a0 On April 7, 1986, Iowa named Tom Davis as its new head coach. Davis\u2019 arrival breathed new life into Gamble\u2019s collegiate career.\u00a0 Given a clean slate, the Springfield product became a key starter for the Hawkeyes, as the team raced to a 17-0 start and the Number 1 ranking in the Associated Press poll.\u00a0 Iowa finished 30-5 before falling in the NCAA Regional Finals, and Gamble\u2019s play was at the center of it all.\u00a0 Impressed with what they saw, the Portland Trail Blazers selected Gamble in the third round of the 1987 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n Competing for a roster spot with veteran John Paxson and first round pick Ronnie Murphy, Gamble found himself caught in a numbers game.\u00a0 He was released, setting off a nomadic wandering from which few NBA castoffs return:\u00a0 There was a full season spent toiling in the CBA, followed by an invitation to the Detroit Pistons\u2019 rookie camp the following summer, followed by a training camp tryout with the Milwaukee Bucks later that fall.\u00a0 Gamble then played in the Philippines for a month, before returning to start his second stint in the CBA.\u00a0 A 12-game hot streak with Quad Cities\u00a0caught the attention of scouts from several NBA teams, including the Boston Celtics, who reached out with an offer.<\/p>\n Gamble played sparingly those first couple of months, understandable with players like Larry Bird, Dennis Johnson, Reggie Lewis and Brian Shaw ahead of him on the depth chart.\u00a0 That all changed over the final six games of the regular season.\u00a0 With DJ nursing a leg injury, Gamble made the most of his minutes and helped the Celtics enter the playoffs on a positive note.\u00a0 Gamble continue to play well in the postseason until going down with a groin injury, as the aging Celtics were swept in the first round by the Detroit Pistons.\u00a0 Still, the sample size was enough to convince the Celtics to bring him back.<\/p>\n “My big break,” Gamble says with a smile.\u00a0 “I knew I had to made the most of my opportunity if it came my way, and I think I showed them what I could do.”<\/p>\n Gamble played in 71 games the following season, averaging 5.1 points in 13.9 minutes-per-game.\u00a0 The Celtics entered the playoffs with high hopes, jumping to a 2-0 series lead against the New York Knicks, only to drop the next three games, eliminated in the first round for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n 1990-91 proved to be Gamble\u2019s breakout year.\u00a0 He played in all 82 games, averaged 15.6 points (fourth on the team, behind Bird, Lewis and McHale), and helped the Celtics to a 56-26 record and a return to first place in the Atlantic Division.\u00a0 The Celtics were again faced with a Game 5 in the opening round, this time against Reggie Miller and Indiana Pacers. When Bird’s head bounced off the Boston Garden parquet, forcing him to the locker room with a concussion, it looked as if another first-round exit were in the making.<\/p>\n \u201cLarry wasn\u2019t going out in the first round again,\u201d Gamble says, smiling at the recollection.\u00a0 \u201cWe knew he was coming back out there, and that he was going to play big, but it was just an incredible moment to see him walk back out of that tunnel.\u00a0 The place went crazy, and we were able to beat the Pacers and move on.\u00a0 Unfortunately, we lost to the Pistons in the next round.\u201d<\/p>\n Gamble played in all 82 games the next season, but the Celtics were eliminated by the Cavaliers in the second round of the playoffs.\u00a0 Bird retired over the summer, and Boston entered the 1992-93 season with Parish and McHale playing well beyond their All-Star years.\u00a0 Facing the upstart Charlotte Hornets in the opening round of the playoffs, the Celtics succumbed quietly, 3-1.\u00a0 The series is best remembered for Reggie Lewis\u2019 strange collapse in Game 2.\u00a0 Replays showed Lewis clutching his chest, as if unable to catch his breath.\u00a0 A team of cardiologists would later diagnose Lewis with a rare heart ailment, urging him to retire immediately from professional basketball.\u00a0 Two months later Lewis was dead, collapsing while shooting baskets at Brandeis University.<\/p>\n \u201cAn unbelievable loss,\u201d Gamble says.\u00a0 \u201cDevastating to the team, to the community, and to his family.\u00a0 Reggie Lewis was just a tremendous person.\u201d<\/p>\n Gamble would play one more season in a Celtic uniform, before finishing his NBA career with stints with the Miami Heat and Sacramento Kings.\u00a0 He would retire following the 1996-97 regular season, having played ten seasons in a league that didn\u2019t want to give him a chance.\u00a0 In beating the odds, Gamble proved that hard work and dedication can go a long way toward big time success.\u00a0 He remains forever grateful to the Celtics for taking a chance on him, when everyone else had their doubts.<\/p>\n “I’ll always be a Boston Celtic,” Gamble says.\u00a0 “There were so many great times.\u00a0 So many great players.\u00a0 It was just an honor to be a part of that great tradition \u2013 it\u2019s something that I\u2019ll never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n You were born on November 13th, 1965 in Springfield, Illinois.\u00a0 What sports were you into?<\/strong><\/p>\n Basketball and baseball were the two main sports that I liked to play.\u00a0 I liked to watch football, but it wasn\u2019t one of the sports that I really competed in.\u00a0 And as I got older, I focused more and more on basketball.<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n You have described yourself as an ‘observer type.’\u00a0 Did this help make you a better basketball player?<\/strong><\/p>\n I don\u2019t know if it made me a better basketball player \u2013 it\u2019s really hard to say.\u00a0 That\u2019s just my personality, and that\u2019s just what type of person I am.\u00a0 I\u2019m laid-back and observant, so I guess I was able to learn quite a bit by observing other players.\u00a0 That might have had something to do with it.\u00a0 It was also the hard work that I put in from a very early age, as a child coming up and playing basketball everyday.\u00a0 And that might have had more to do with it than anything.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n You led Lanphier High to a state championship in 1983.\u00a0 Looking back, what stands out about that championship season?<\/strong><\/p>\n Just the whole experience.\u00a0 We knew we were going to have a pretty good ball club when we were seniors in high school, because the majority of us had been together since eighth or ninth grade.\u00a0 It was just a very good nucleus of players that came from different grade schools and middle schools, so we knew we were going to have a special team that last year.\u00a0 We thought that, with our talent and a little luck, we might be able to win a state championship, so it was always in the back of our minds.\u00a0 We were fortunate enough to win it.\u00a0 We had guys at every position, from point guard all the way to center \u2013 everybody knew their roles and everybody played their roles.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n You played two seasons at Lincoln Junior College.\u00a0 Tell me about your head coach, Alan Pickering.<\/strong><\/p>\n Coach Pick was my first adult role model in my transition from adolescence to a young man.\u00a0 He was that person that took me to the next step in my life.\u00a0 He molded me, and showed me what I had to do to make it at the college level.\u00a0 He also helped me to transition from living at home to living on my own.\u00a0 I\u2019d never been alone and away from home like that before.\u00a0 Coach Pick helped me with what seem like simple things now, such as managing my time and building strong study habits, but a the time it all seemed overwhelming.\u00a0 He taught me not only to be a better basketball player, but also a better person.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You transferred Iowa for your junior season, but didn’t play much under head coach George Raveling.<\/strong><\/p>\n That first year was very disappointing.\u00a0 Not that we didn\u2019t get along, but Coach Raveling and I didn\u2019t always see eye-to-eye.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t see me as the player that Coach Pickering saw me as, or that my high school coaches saw me as.\u00a0 I was primarily a guard\/forward in high school.\u00a0 I played guard at Lincoln College.\u00a0 But once I got to Iowa, Coach Raveling saw fit to play me at power forward, with guys like Eddie Horton, Brad Lohaus, and Al Lorenzen.\u00a0 Lohaus was a seven-footer.\u00a0 Eddie Horton was 6\u20198\u201d, and probably weighed 260 pounds at the time.\u00a0 Al Lorenzen was 6\u20198\u201d, 250.\u00a0 And I was playing the same position at 6\u20196\u201d, 205.\u00a0 So it was very disappointing.\u00a0 I wish I could have red-shirted that year.\u00a0 I think I averaged a total of\u00a0 six minutes per-game that year, so it was very disappointing in terms of athletics.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n That all changed under Tom Davis \u2013 you led the Hawkeyes to a 30-5 record and the NCAA tournament regional finals.<\/strong><\/p>\n When Coach Davis came in, he met with us and said that we were starting with a brand new slate.\u00a0 He said that nobody had positions, and that you had to go out and earn your playing time.\u00a0 I ended up winning two positions on our ball club \u2013 the two guard spot, and the small forward position.\u00a0 I primarily played the two \u2013 shooting guard \u2013 for Coach Davis, and he\u2019s probably the main reason I had a chance to make it to the NBA.\u00a0 I did have a pretty good senior season and a pretty good tournament, and because of that I ended up being drafted by Portland in the third round of the 1987 NBA Draft.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n You were drafted by Portland in the third round, but waived after only nine games.\u00a0 What happened?<\/strong><\/p>\n Early on I was just trying to define myself , to see where I fit in.\u00a0 My stint with the Portland Trail Blazers was a good one \u2013 I could tell that I could fit, that I could play in the NBA.\u00a0 I gained a lot of confidence playing with Terry Porter, Clyde Drexler, Jerome Kersey, Kevin Duckworth and guys like that.\u00a0 Being a rookie, I basically held my own.\u00a0 They had a couple of guys injured to start the season.\u00a0 John Paxson was out, and so was their first round pick, Ronnie Murphy.\u00a0 So I made it through training camp and made the ball club.\u00a0 I think the team knew that I was good enough to play NBA ball, but unfortunately for me, it turned out to be a numbers game.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t going to cut their first rounder, and they weren\u2019t going to cut a veteran like John to keep a rookie like myself.\u00a0 So it boiled down to a numbers game there in Portland.\u00a0 Coach Adelman was there as an assistant to Mike Schuler, and those guys told me that I was good enough to play in the NBA.\u00a0 They told me to not give up, to hang in there, and that sooner or later I would get my chance to show that I could play pro ball.\u00a0 So even though I was released, it was a very good time for me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What did you do next?<\/strong><\/p>\n It was disappointing not being able to stick in the NBA, but I just kept busy playing basketball.\u00a0 I played a full season in the CBA after being cut by Portland \u2013 I think I averaged 20 points and 8 rebounds-per-game \u2013 and had a successful season.\u00a0 Everyone that I talked to said the same thing:\u00a0 In order to play NBA basketball, I had to learn to play great defense.\u00a0 So that\u2019s what I worked on while playing in the CBA.\u00a0 I expected to get a mid-season call from an NBA team, but it didn\u2019t work out that way.<\/p>\n From there, I ended going to Detroit that next summer.\u00a0 They had drafted Fennis Dembo from Wyoming in the first round of the 1988 NBA Draft, and they had also brought in a couple of free agents.\u00a0 I played well in that camp also, but again, they already had their players picked out.\u00a0 They had Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, Isiah Thomas, Adrian Dantley, Vinnie Johnson, Joe Dumars, Rick Mahorn and John Sally.\u00a0 So I knew that it was going to be hard to make that ball club.\u00a0 That same summer I went to the Milwaukee Bucks\u2019 mini-camp.\u00a0 I thought played well there, but for whatever reason I didn\u2019t catch on, so that\u2019s when I went over to the Philippines.\u00a0 I was there for a month.\u00a0 It was a good experience \u2013 I was able to see a different part of the world \u2013 but it just wasn\u2019t my cup of tea, so to speak.\u00a0 I came back home, and that\u2019s when I rejoined Quad Cities of the CBA.\u00a0 I think I played twelve games for them, and I averaged close to 30 points-per-game during that stretch.\u00a0 And that\u2019s when I got the call from the Boston Celtics.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n On December 15th, 1988, the Celtics signed you for the remainder of the season.\u00a0 How did you find out they were interested?<\/strong><\/p>\n Ron Grinker \u2013 my agent out of Cincinnati, Ohio, who is no longer with us \u2013 called me up, and said that I had two teams that were interested in me.\u00a0 One was the Portland Trailblazers, who wanted me back, and the other was the Boston Celtics.\u00a0 At the time I knew that I was going to be called up, but at the time the Celtics were the last team that I thought would ever call me.\u00a0 There was no particular reason for that feeling, but with all the history and championships, and with the roster that they had at the time, I just didn\u2019t think that they would want me.\u00a0 Ron said that those were the two teams that wanted me, so we sat down and talked about it.\u00a0 I finally decided against Portland because of the way things went there the first time around.\u00a0 I just made up my mind and said, \u2018Let\u2019s go to Boston.\u2019<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One moment you’re playing in the CBA, the next you’re contending for an NBA Championship with legendary players like Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.\u00a0 What was it like joining the team for the first time?<\/strong><\/p>\n I immediately got on a flight and went to Boston.\u00a0 The first day of practice I walk out there, and the guys are already on the court.\u00a0 I\u2019m shaking in my boots a little bit, but it\u2019s easy to understand why:\u00a0 You look at the other end of the court, and you see Kevin McHale.\u00a0 You see Larry Bird.\u00a0 You see Dennis Johnson.\u00a0 It\u2019s like, \u2018Wow.\u2019\u00a0 It didn\u2019t feel like I had arrived; it was more a need to show these guys that I could play.\u00a0 Practice proceeded, and those guys welcomed me with open arms.\u00a0 I introduced myself.\u00a0 Of course, you probably know some of the stories about McHale and Danny Ainge \u2013 the two jokesters on the team \u2013 and I think it was Danny who pointed out that the Celtics suddenly had two Kevins on the roster.\u00a0 And when I told them that my last was Gamble, Danny\u2019s eyes lit up.\u00a0 Danny had played professional baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays, and a guy named Oscar Gamble played for the New York Yankees during that time, so Danny started calling me Oscar.\u00a0 The nickname stuck with me for the rest of my career with the Celtics.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n During practice, you used to play some friendly one-on-one with Kevin McHale.\u00a0 How did those games turn out?<\/strong><\/p>\n I won some and I lost some.\u00a0 Kevin had to guard perimeter guys \u2013 Larry wasn\u2019t the quickest guy, but Kevin was long.\u00a0 KC and Coach [Chris] Ford used to have Larry guard the bigger guys in practice, mostly fours [power forwards].\u00a0 McHale used to guard the threes [small forwards], who were quicker.\u00a0 He used to practice with me to work on his quickness.\u00a0 Kevin had those long arms.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t real quick, but he moved his feet well.\u00a0 He would give you space, and then, when you went up for your jump shot, he would contest it with those long arms and his reach.\u00a0 So I think that was one of the things that he wanted to work on, because he was going to be matched up against players my size, or even bigger, who could take the ball to the basket.\u00a0 But we had fun.\u00a0 Playing one-on-one with those guys taught me a lot of things.\u00a0 I learned a lot about basketball being around them, observing them, and also playing against them in practice.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Dennis Johnson once convinced you to lead them onto the Garden floor when the team was introduced.\u00a0 What happened?<\/strong><\/p>\n I had forgotten all about that, but now that you mention it I do remember [laughs].\u00a0 Dennis came up to me and said that it was a tradition in Boston to have the new guy lead them out.\u00a0 I can\u2019t remember if it was my first game with the team, but I do remember that it was during Kareem Abdul-Jabbar\u2019s farewell tour.\u00a0 We were playing the Lakers, of course, and I ran out of the tunnel and into the gym.\u00a0 When I got on the court I turned around and looked back, and all of the guys were still back there in the tunnel, laughing at me.\u00a0 It was funny because here I am, this young kid standing on the fabled parquet floor, who has watched this place on television for years-and-years, through all of those battles between the Celtics and the Lakers, and also against the Philadelphia 76ers.\u00a0 That\u2019s what made it so horrifying for me, and such a good joke for them.\u00a0 I was so nervous, and I was also embarrassed.\u00a0 For them to put me out there like that, I\u2019m surprised that I didn\u2019t faint [laughs].<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It looked like you might be released after that first season, but then DJ gets hurt.\u00a0 Tell me about the turning point.<\/strong><\/p>\n I remember when DJ rolled his ankle in Atlanta \u2013 it was really bad \u2013 and we\u2019re flying back to Boston that night, knowing that he wasn\u2019t going to be able to finish up the season.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t know if he was going to miss all six games, but we did know that he was going to miss a few.\u00a0 Our next game was against Cleveland, and we\u2019re in the locker room going through our normal pre-game stuff.\u00a0 Coach [Jimmy] Rodgers comes into the locker room with the Cleveland\u2019s starting lineup \u2013 Larry Nance, Brad Dougherty, Ron Harper, and so forth.\u00a0 Jimmy looks at Brian Shaw, and he tells him that he will guard Mark Price.\u00a0 Then he looks at me, and he says, \u2018Oscar, you\u2019re going to be starting, and you\u2019ve got Ron Harper.\u2019\u00a0 That was the first time that I heard that I was going to starting in the NBA.\u00a0 I\u2019ll never forget that feeling.\u00a0 Of course, everybody knew what Ron Harper could do \u2013 he was one of the best players in the NBA.\u00a0 He was known as a very good all-around player, strong offensively and defensively, which made my first start exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time.\u00a0 I think I had 20 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds.\u00a0 From that point on I think everyone on the team knew that they could count on me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Celtics were swept from the 1989 NBA Playoffs by the Bad Boys from Detroit.<\/strong><\/p>\n I think we limped into the playoffs that year and had to play the Bad Boys.\u00a0 The one thing that I do remember \u2013 and it wasn\u2019t a good memory for me \u2013 was that I got hurt during the first game of that series.\u00a0 I pulled my groin.\u00a0 It was a severe pull, so it obviously wasn\u2019t a good series for me.\u00a0 I remember playing against Isiah, and Dumars, and the Microwave [Vinnie Johnson].\u00a0 I think that might have been the first of their back-to-back championship seasons.\u00a0 It was a great experience, but I just wish that I could have been healthy enough to contribute more.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Celtics bring you back the next season.\u00a0 What was it like to go through training camp with the rest of the team?<\/strong><\/p>\n It was fun. It\u2019s hard to remember now, but just going through a full training and getting ready for the regular season was a luxury.\u00a0 It helped in terms of getting my timing down with my teammates, because Larry was coming back and we had some adjustments to make.\u00a0 It was fun being around the guys, and getting the chance to play with some of the best basketball players in the world.\u00a0 You learn something everyday.\u00a0 You pick up so many little things about the game.\u00a0 So it was an exciting time for me; going through the preseason games, going on the flights with the team…it was a lot of hard work, but I came away from it with a lot of great memories.\u00a0 It also made me a better basketball player.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The ’89-’90 season ended with heartbreak, as the Celtics were eliminated from the first round for the second consecutive season.\u00a0 What happened in that series against New York, and how were the Knicks able to win that decisive game in the Boston Garden?<\/strong><\/p>\n I didn\u2019t play a lot that series \u2013 they were a bigger team, so they went big and we countered by going with a big rotation.\u00a0 Patrick [Ewing] had a great series against us.\u00a0 Gerald Wilkins had a great series.\u00a0 The Knicks played good team basketball and had us on our heels.\u00a0 If a team gets hot in a five game series, then it can definitely make things difficult for the opponent, and that\u2019s basically what happened.\u00a0 The Knicks tied the series in New York, and then came into Boston and won that deciding game in the Garden.\u00a0 We had no one to blame but ourselves; if you don\u2019t take care of homecourt, then you\u2019re usually not going to win a playoff series.\u00a0 The Knicks were a young team coming up, and Patrick was hungry.\u00a0 They were able to do it.\u00a0 You have to give them credit.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The ’91 playoff series against the Indiana Pacers is best remembered for Larry Bird’s return after banging his head on the Garden floor.<\/strong><\/p>\n You just knew he was going to return, but you didn\u2019t start getting excited until the fans saw him walk out of that locker room.\u00a0 So we knew he was going to come back \u2013 he\u2019d done so many amazing things during his career, and he\u2019d hit so many big shots.\u00a0 He was the master of taking over a game.\u00a0 So it was one of those times when you\u2019d just sit back and watch, and that you were just glad to be a part of it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Larry Bird retired following the ’91’92 season.\u00a0 By then you were in integral part of the team, earning your reputation and playing time with solid defense.\u00a0 With Larry gone and the rest of the Big Three in decline, did you assume more of a leadership role with the Celtics?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes and no \u2013 I just tried to go to work every day and put up my normal numbers.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t a vocal leader.\u00a0 I tried to lead by example, so I guess you could say that I was a lunch pail type of player.\u00a0 I worked hard in practice every day, and gave my all on the court.\u00a0 I tried to defend my man with maximum intensity.\u00a0 I used to watch Chief [Robert Parish], and he always came to work.\u00a0 And he worked hard.\u00a0 I tried my best to emulate that, because I always felt that Robert set a good example of the younger players on the team.\u00a0 To me, he was the consummate pro.\u00a0 Whether it was in practice or in a game, you knew that Robert was going to give his best at all times.\u00a0 So I tried to imitate the things that he tried to do.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tell me about the great Red Auerbach.<\/strong><\/p>\n I remember when I held out for my contract.\u00a0 The Celtics always have a dinner in the Quincy area for the media \u2013 the old Celtic players always come out.\u00a0 It was around the time when the players started pulling down million dollar contracts, and stuff like that.\u00a0 I was mainly a scorer who played solid, fundamental defense, and Red just couldn\u2019t understand how a guy who didn\u2019t rebound could make a million bucks [laughs].<\/p>\n Before games he would come in the locker room and talk about the days when he coached, and some of the guys that he coached.\u00a0 Guys would be getting ready to get their ankles taped, and of course Red is on the taping table telling those old stories, and you couldn\u2019t get your ankles taped [laughs].\u00a0 So you\u2019ve got to listen to the stories before the game, and time is clicking, and you have to wait for him to get those stories out.\u00a0 But for him to come in and sit and talk, that means a lot.\u00a0 Especially to some of the younger guys.\u00a0 He would come in and give you encouragement \u2013 he\u2019d tell you to relax and just shoot the ball, and that really made you feel like you were a part of something special \u2013 but most of the time he would come in to tell his stores and show off his rings [laughs].<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n Final Question:\u00a0 If you could offer one piece of advice on life to others, what would that be?<\/strong><\/p>\n Work hard.\u00a0 If you have a dream, don\u2019t let anything get in your way.\u00a0 Do it the right way, because there are no shortcuts to success.\u00a0 It takes hard work and dedication \u2013 some people like the quick fix, but there is no quick fix out there.<\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By: Michael D. McClellan |\u00a0He played for the Boston Celtics during a period of nervous change, joining the club just as the Big Three was beginning to break down, its parts worn from too many minutes and too little rest, the post-Bias funk settling in like a fog, thick, heavy and unrelenting.\u00a0 He played valiantly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16302,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","iawp_total_views":20,"footnotes":""},"categories":[783,773,776],"tags":[361],"class_list":["post-7982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dark-days","category-featured-interview","category-bird-era","tag-kevin-gamble"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7982\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.celtic-nation.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/basketball.png\")
<\/p>\n