Much is being made of the way three teams vaulted in to the top three slots and pushed the three worst teams including the Boston Celtics out of the running for potential franchise players Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. While I feel for the other two teams that missed out one of these players, I can't say I feel bad for the Celtics.
I'm sorry, but I have no sympathy for the Celtics. Their 11 year run of success practically killed the NBA. Who besides Boston fans want to see one team win the championship every year. It's like feeling bad for the Yankees' recent dearth of championships. Tell it to the Cubs/Giants/Warriors/Knicks/Clippers fans. See how much commiserating you get.
Even after the Celtics released their choke hold on the NBA, they continued to be successful. They even built another dynasty featuring Larry Bird that looked to be getting even stronger when the then reigning champions happened to get the top pick in the draft due to an earlier trade. They used the pick on the "sure thing" player, Len Bias. I think that's the point where their hubris got to be too much for the NBA Gods. I mean come on! You just won the championship and now luck into getting the best player coming out of college that year? Something had to be done. So Bias OD'd on cocaine and died.
Without Bias, their dynasty started to decline with age. They have never been able to really recover from that point. And they don't deserve to. It's because of that physical 80's Celtic team that the "Bad Boy" Pistons developed the rough, dirty style that still plagues the league.
Basketball is not a contact sport, but the 80's Celtics turned it into one. When the Pistons couldn't beat them with skill and finesse, the decided to outdo them physically with goons like Mahorn and Laimber.
So don't pity the Celtics. They made this bed. Now they have to lay in it.
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