You were traded to the Phoenix Suns following the 1974-75 season, your third in the league, and not because the Celtics had given up on you.  That was the farthest from the truth – the Celtics, in fact,  felt you were on the verge of very big things in the league.  Please explain the mechanics behind the trade, and what it was like to change organizations so early in your career.
 
The trade hit me by surprise, quite frankly.  The Celtics hadn’t dealt a player in nearly ten years, which was understandable given their success, so for them to trade anyone from their roster was something of a shock.  I just assumed that I was a part of the Celtics’ future plans.

Back then the NBA Players Association sponsored an annual offseason trip to Rio, and I was actually on my way there when I learned the news.  I found out during a layover in New York.  Red’s secretary got hold of me and told me that I’d been traded to Phoenix for Charlie Scott.  It took some time for it to sink in, but it didn’t take long to realized how much the Suns thought about me.  It was very flattering to be traded for an established NBA star like Charlie, who’d been a 25 point-per-game scorer with Phoenix, especially when I’d played three seasons with the Celtics and hadn’t started a game.  I assumed that I’d finally be starting for the Celtics in my fourth year, but it turned out that I was starting for the Suns instead.

The biggest adjustment was from going to a perennial championship contender to a team near the bottom of the standings.  This wasn’t something that I was accustomed to, but we were able to turn things around in a relatively short timeframe.

The trade with Phoenix took on additional significance when the Celtics and Suns squared off during the 1976 NBA Finals.  What did it feel like, facing your former teammates with a championship at stake?
 
There was a great deal of familiarity there.  I’d been a Boston Celtic for three seasons, so there really wasn’t fear on my part in terms of playing against the Celtics or facing the Celtic mystique.  We knew how good we were, and that we could play on a championship level.  It was different being in the visitor’s locker room after spending so much time on the other side.

Game 5 is forever immortalized because of its triple-overtime drama, and has been dubbed “The Greatest Game Ever”.  You played a large role in that series.  Please take me back and share some of the memories that still stand out.
 
There are so many memories from that game, which makes it very hard to pick one thing.  When I look back I think about all of the little things that we could have done differently to win that game.  I suppose that’s the coach in me.  There’s nothing you can do to change the outcome – that’s basketball – but it still hurt to lose that game and the series as well.  As time has passed, I’ve come to realize what a privilege and an honor it was to be a part of something that special, regardless of which side you were on.  That’s the thing that stands out most now, and the losing pales in comparison to the bigger picture of what we accomplished in that series.

In many ways you bring to mind another famous Celtic – Don Nelson.  Both of you have excelled as players and coaches.  Please tell me about your former teammate.
 
Don Nelson taught me a great deal – to me, the man is the personification of genius.  He’s one of the most innovative, successful coaches the league has ever known.  He has taken his share of hits over the years, in large part because he is so innovative and unafraid to take chances, but in my mind he is one of the greatest coaches in the league.

As a player he wasn’t the most talented, but he made up for any lack of talent with great desire.  He was a true competitor.  He worked and developed that mid-range shot, which was his primary weapon, and used it to great advantage.

Another thing about Don Nelson; when I joined the Celtics he used to butter me up, pay me a lot of compliments.  He’d tell me he was going to throw me the ball during games, but I didn’t realize that he was working me, that he was really making sure that I’d pass him the ball so that he could shoot [laughs]!

Don was a smart player, and he kept things simple on the court.  You loved having him as a teammate, because everything he did was done within the context of helping the team to win.