The Conner Henry Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Thursday, May 6th, 2004
On the play prior to Magic’s baby hook, Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar was fouled. He made the first foul shot
but missed the second, and the ball was batted out of
bounds by Kevin McHale. To me it looked like it could
have gone out on a Laker. Did the referees make the
right call?
The call went against us, so we had to deal with the
reality of the situation. As players, we’re taught to
secure the rebound, and in this case we just weren’t
able to do that. It’s one of those plays that just
kills you, and makes you realize that every possession
is as important as the rest.
Please tell me about the Boston Garden, and what it was
like during the playoffs.
The Garden was like a very old high school gym. The
lighting wasn’t the best, and the floor was soft, but
those things played to our advantage. During the
playoffs it was always a little hotter – in some cases a
lot hotter. It was damp, it was humid, and it was a
very tough place for the opposition to play. It was
also a magical place to play – you could always count on
the buzz from the crowd, an electricity that just made
it special to be there. I’ll always cherish those
memories. I had friends who drove three thousand miles
to see those playoff games, which made it even better.
What is your greatest memory of Larry Bird?
The second game of the 1987 season. We were in D.C. to
play the Washington Bullets, and the game went into
double-overtime. Bird had an incredible game, hitting a
jumper to send the game into overtime, and then hitting
another to send it into the second overtime. I was on
the court at the end of that frame – I was being used as
a decoy because of my threat as an outside shooter.
Birdie took the shot, of course, and won the game for
us. To me, that was Larry Bird at his finest.
Everyone I’ve spoken to has there own favorite story
about Red Auerbach. Is there one that you would like to
share?
It’s interesting, but I only spoke to Red twice in the
year that I was with the team. I was walking into
practice at Brandeis University one morning when I saw
him. I said ‘good morning’, and Red said, “How’s your
back, kid?” I told him that it was getting better, and
he seemed satisfied with that. End of conversation
[laughs].
The Celtics headed for Bermuda following that difficult
playoff run. You had the opportunity to play Bermuda’s
famous Mid-Ocean course with KC Jones, Jimmy Rodgers
and Chris Ford. Please tell a little about that trip,
and also a little about each of these men.
I remember the golf course being spectacular, and I
remember pink sand on the beach. It was a great
opportunity to visit with the coaches outside of the
basketball season. It was enjoyable. K.C. was very
funny, but very direct. He’s a man that I admire very
much. Jimmy talked with me a lot – I was his pet
project in many ways. Jimmy was also known as the
defensive coach for the Celtics, and he really worked
with me in this area. I couldn’t guard my shadow!!
Chris was the crazy one [laughs]. He wasn’t far removed
from his playing days, so he was still somewhat in a
player mode. He had that mentality. We’d always go at
it before and after practice, the two of us talking junk
and shooting on the court. Chris had a very good player
rapport.
