The Scott Wedman Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Sunday, November 14th, 2004
The 1985
NBA Finals featured a rematch with the Lakers, and a return to the 2-3-2
home-away format. Game 1 fell on Memorial Day, May 27th, and has
become known as the Memorial Day Massacre. Your Celtics won that game 148-114,
and you were a perfect 11-for-11 from the floor including four three-pointers.
Please take me back to that game – what stands out most, after all of these
years?
As a
professional basketball player, your performance on the court is partly a
reflection of where you are emotionally and spiritually. It’s also directly
impacted by your relationship with family and friends. All of those things were
very positive for me when we played the Lakers that day. I was in a really good
place mentally. I had good friends around me, and all of the elements were
right for a strong performance. I remember that Ainge had a great game, and
that I was mentally focused to come off of the bench. If I’d learned anything
from the previous season, it was that I needed to be prepared to contribute when
my number was called. I’d learned to cheer the team when I wasn’t playing, and
to keep myself in a very positive frame of mind. And that day there were no
negative thoughts at all. My first shot didn’t feel good when I released it,
but it went in and I knew immediately that I was going to have a good game.
The
Lakers evened the series by winning Game 2. Kareem, who had played so
poorly in Game 1, responded with 30 points, 17 rebounds, eight assists and
three blocks. What adjustments did the Lakers– and Kareem in particular –
make that proved to be so effective?
I’m not sure what made the difference. Kareem was suffering from migraines
in the first game, so I’m sure that had an effect on his performance. The
Lakers were an excellent team, very talented. They scored a lot of
fast-break points in that series, and Kareem really took it to us.
The
Celtics made a major move following the loss to the Lakers; Cedric Maxwell
was traded to the Clippers in exchange for Bill Walton. In what ways did
Walton’s arrival improve the Boston Celtics?
Well, we were really disappointed to lose Cedric Maxwell. He was quite a
player, and he had a great personality. He’d limped through the season with
a knee injury, which was tough, and then Red decided to make the trade with
the Clippers.
Bill was like a kid in a candy store. He was thrilled to be a Boston Celtic, thrilled to be playing with Larry Bird, but also aware of how he might be perceived by his teammates – especially Robert Parish. So one of the first things he did was to call Robert, and to assure him that he was still the starter. It was a smart move, because it made Robert very receptive to the trade.
Bill made our practice team much, much better. Those practices were so intense. Everyone talked trash. There was a lot of pride at stake. And it made the team better – we were 40-1 at home that season, and a lot of that had to do with the nature of our practices. They were as competitive as many of the games we played that season, because everyone wanted to perform at a high level. The Big Three set the tone, but the practice team always wanted to take it to them. And we won our fair share of games [laughs].
The
1985-86 Boston Celtics won 67 games on its way to the NBA championship, in
large part due to players named Walton, Wedman and Sichting coming off of
the bench. It is generally regarded as one of the greatest teams ever
assembled. Where do you think it ranks in terms of the best teams ever?
I
don’t know. When you look at all of the great players on our team, you have
to look at McHale and ask yourself who would have to guard him. You might
find someone to match up with Robert or Larry to some degree, but then who
would take care of Kevin? He was such an incredible low-post player – how
many teams would have someone capable of stopping him? And our bench
strength was so great that year that we had depth at all positions. Jerry
Sichting could come in for Ainge and bring incredible shooting accuracy.
Bill brought that trademark intensity, not to mention great passing in the
low-post. I felt I could shoot the ball and defend. It was a great team,
but it’s so hard to compare teams from different eras. I still like our
chances against any team in NBA history.
