Bob Ryan and Gary Tanguay sit down to discuss the Celtics' reaction following their OT Game 1 victory over the Indiana Pacers, wonder what Joe Mazzulla's response will be, check in on the Western Conference Finals, compare the stars of today's Playoffs to those of the NBA's past, and much more!
0:00 - Intro
2:19 - Importance of finishing periods strongly
4:23 - Celtics' respect for Indiana's game
6:19 - Kyrie Irving's impressive performance
10:06 - Comparing Jrue Holiday to past Celtics players
12:32 - Philly and New Orleans teams' dynamics
14:04 - Larry Bird's iconic comeback in 1991
16:58 - Larry Bird's Olympic experience
18:57 - Reflecting on player care and load management
20:59 - Controversy around player injuries and decisions
25:30 - Evolution of the gamebridge in Indianapolis
27:29 - Kentucky Colonels' championship team
29:01 - Moses Malone's early career and talent
Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy!
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0:00 - Intro
2:19 - Importance of finishing periods strongly
4:23 - Celtics' respect for Indiana's game
6:19 - Kyrie Irving's impressive performance
10:06 - Comparing Jrue Holiday to past Celtics players
12:32 - Philly and New Orleans teams' dynamics
14:04 - Larry Bird's iconic comeback in 1991
16:58 - Larry Bird's Olympic experience
18:57 - Reflecting on player care and load management
20:59 - Controversy around player injuries and decisions
25:30 - Evolution of the gamebridge in Indianapolis
27:29 - Kentucky Colonels' championship team
29:01 - Moses Malone's early career and talent
Get in on the excitement with PrizePicks, America’s No. 1 Fantasy Sports App, where you can turn your hoops knowledge into serious cash. Download the app today and use code CLNS for a first deposit match up to $100! Pick more. Pick less. It’s that Easy!
Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply.
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SportsTranscript
00:00Bob Ryan, Gary Tangway, Zoom and Pod brought to you by Pricefix, the exclusive daily fantasy
00:29partner of CLNS Media. Pick more, pick less. It's that easy with Pricefix. So here we are
00:35on CLNS Media. Gary and Bob, all right, let's, we've talked about it in length with our other
00:41colleague Jeff Goodman. Since the Celtics game one win, which you said was more like they didn't
00:47lose, the team is saying all the right things. Do you think they got the message? We'll see.
00:55You'd like to think so. Interesting, Joe Mazzullo, boy, he is, he sticks to his guns,
01:01his principles, whatever, however, whatever cliche phrase we want to use to describe someone who is
01:07consistent. And he is downplaying the lucky, you know, the fact that they won the game through
01:16equal parts skill, luck, and, you know, good providence at the end that they should have lost,
01:21that it was Indiana's screw-ups that lost this game, plus a shot that Brown made. All right.
01:28He's saying that we didn't, we messed up other periods, the end of period. He stresses always
01:33often that how you finish periods matters. And he's right. But he said it was more important,
01:38you know, he's more concerned that they didn't, that they didn't finish the first and third
01:44periods as well as they should have. And then he was about the fact that they were, you know,
01:48three points down without the ball with eight seconds to go and they went up winning the game.
01:52And, you know, all right, so he's going to stick with that. But I think he should be,
01:57you know, yeah, all right, fine. But he's not going to come out and say we were lucky. But,
02:03you know, they were. They were. And I've thought about this a little bit. And I understand where
02:09you're coming from. The end of the third quarter was the key to the game for me. And I know he's
02:14focusing on that. Again, I feel he should go with the starters, forget the substitutes and just put
02:21the hammer down and blow them out. And if they did that, or if the subs who throughout the year
02:27have done a very good job, continue to play well, instead of being outscored in a matter of 30
02:32seconds by whatever it was. Yeah. You don't have a close game at the end. No, you're right. I can
02:39appreciate his fact there. The one thing I will say, because I was with you and Jeff about how
02:45they didn't lose. But Brown still made the shot. Yeah. You know, that's and I know Jeff said he
02:51makes maybe three out of 100, but he still made it. And the other thing Brown did is when he
02:57chased down, I think it was Siakam out of the ball and he didn't come to the ball, as you and Jeff
03:03pointed out. But Brown, you know, he still made the play, still made some plays. So I give the
03:08Celtics a little more credit, I think, originally than I did. However, I think we all agree they
03:15have to get their act together. Yeah. Well, I mean, you know, you were thinking it was 12,
03:20nothing. I'm a pessimist in regard to that. You can ask my wife what I said when it was 12,
03:26nothing. I said, I hate this. Right. I hate that. You know, 14 to seven. I like I don't like 12,
03:32nothing. And I'm sorry, I've been proven right too many times. So I didn't like that. I don't
03:41know whether it puts certain things in their head or not. You know, but anyway, they lost three
03:50double digit leads, starting with that one. Now that one, when there's, you know, 45 minutes to
03:56go, you can't get too worried about losing a 12 point lead. But the other ones didn't matter.
04:01Mizzou was worried about finishing periods. Now, in one case, there's Deus Ex Machina. There's
04:07nothing they could do about the shot that Halliburton threw in banking in from 100 feet,
04:12you know, whatever, that nobody can feel bad or guilty about that. I know it's a great shot.
04:20Yeah. You know, but I think it's fun universally now that the outside world has declared that the
04:28Celtics, you know, should have lost. And they're having renewed respect for Indiana and what they
04:38bring to the table. Although people are still saying, yeah, the Celtics are going to win,
04:41but they're lucky that they're up 1-0. I will remind people, had they lost, I would have been
04:47very confident about game three in Indiana, that they will win a game. They will win.
04:53Yeah, agreed. I wish the Celtics would move the ball the way Indiana does.
04:58Well, they just don't. They just don't. The nature of their beast, you know, that it is,
05:05can I say? Yeah. You know, I mean, but if they did move the ball the way Indiana does,
05:09I don't know, maybe it wouldn't work for them. Maybe the pound of the ball, maybe that works
05:13for them. You know, if they played, if they moved the ball like Indiana does, maybe it would throw
05:17them all off. But boy, if they played that kind of offense, they'd be blowing everybody out.
05:21But that's an imperfect world, you know. I know. Well, it is. But you and I are perfect, Bob. We
05:26know that. Now let's get, okay, who are the Dallas Mavericks and where did they come from?
05:34They went on the road in Minnesota. They ended the season very well, but it was under the radar.
05:39Nobody was paying attention to them. And then they knock off OKC. What's going on is that,
05:47the number one thing, Donchik is Donchik. I mean, but he's hurt. He's been hurt,
05:51apparently, in the legs. He apparently looks much better last night.
05:55Kyrie Irvin is playing the best ball of his life, period. And it's interesting, Kyrie Irvin,
06:02it may be that all the experiences he's had, good and bad, he has sifted through them all.
06:10He's 31 years old now, 31 or two. And he's putting it all together. Physically, I always said,
06:17he goes to the basket as well as any guy his size I've ever seen, ever. And he's playing the best
06:23basketball of his career. He got off to a great start in this game last night. He had 24 points
06:28in the first half. Okay. And so he's a different person and player than he was when he was here,
06:34that's for sure. And it's finally all put together. It's nice for him because he is talented. He
06:40deserves to have a career. He's put in a requisite work as an athlete to get the spoils of it.
06:48And so good for him in that regard. We would love to hate him, but that guy may not be around
06:54anymore. This may be a new Kyrie Irvin. Secondly, Donchik, he was the closer. And he even had a big
07:03defensive play, which may be the first notable one of his career. I mean, he's not noted for that.
07:09They got the one-two star punch and they're getting just enough. And the third guy has come
07:14along who they picked up in a trade, give the brass credit, P.J. Washington. And now he was a
07:20big time high school player, big time Kentucky recruit. And so the people who, the Jeff Goodmans
07:26of the world are well acquainted with P.J. Washington. And we'll tell you, hey, I saw this
07:30coming. I saw him when, but he's arrived as a player of substance now. And Jason Kidd's been
07:38around the block a few times, folks. He's been around the block a few times as a coach and knows
07:44what he's doing. That's going to be, you know, and this is at a point when we were all paying
07:49homage to Minnesota, the way that they knocked off Denver, the way they've been playing. And now we
07:55have to pay a little homage to Dallas. Does this have seven written all over it? Maybe. Fine. Good.
08:01Well, I just think the basketball has been exciting.
08:05Yeah. Well, that's great. That game was, yeah. Now this basketball, you know, the NBA is still
08:14the greatest basketball league in the world. The best players, you know, the game is different than
08:19it once was. We had people like myself have to just come reluctantly to come to grips with the
08:23dominance of the three, you know, but there's still, there's still people around that, that
08:28play the game, you know, the old fashioned way. We're going to talk about one of them soon.
08:31And, you know, these are good teams. And I think we've got four worthy teams left and
08:39whoever emerges, I think we have a worthy champion. I do.
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09:44I thought in game one for the Celtics, Drew Holliday was the MVP. I think we all agree.
09:49He was the veteran. He was the stable force. He guided everyone. He played tremendous.
09:56A complete game. So when you think of guards of the past, do you think of JoJo? Do you think of
10:03DJ? Do you think of Danny when you look at Drew Holliday? In terms of the combination of offense
10:10and defense and the body type and all, the one that does come to mind is DJ, who came here as
10:20an acclaimed defensive player, but who was the MVP of a finals in 1979, during which he scored
10:2620 points a game and blocked. This is still the greatest, one of my favorite trivias in all of
10:31sport ever, is that in the six game finals in 1979 against the Bullets, he blocked 14 shots from the
10:38guard position. Come on. And he scored 20 points a game. And he was the MVP. DJ, but there's,
10:47but not quite complete comparison. Personality different. There's the style of play. There's
10:54only one DJ in that style, I think. But that's the closest offense-defense one. Sam was an
11:01offensive machine who could play defense, but he wasn't known for it. It was a little bit,
11:06it was definitely more of a scoring two guard who happened to play defense. Danny was a combo guard,
11:13underrated, I think, historically, frankly, and never gave up a cheap basket in his life. I mean,
11:18he played hard every second he ever was on the court. And it should be remembered. But I would
11:27say if you want to go for the offense-defense, it's DJ. But Holliday brings his own style of
11:35leadership. I call to people's attention is an interesting story. I learned a lot in the New York
11:41Times, which would be on the 23rd of May today about Drew Holliday and his background and the
11:49way he was raised and by mom and dad, but mom's great influence and giving him a mindset that he
11:57carries to this day of selflessness and team first. He's been, it was instilled in him from
12:05pre-adolescence. And he preaches that gospel basically every day of his life, in his own
12:10family life and his team. So, you know, my only question now is what were like his fifth to fourth
12:16team? You know, it's, I don't know. He should have been more prized, but we're lucky to have him,
12:21you know, we only got him. He was with Damien Lillard.
12:26He was with teams originally. If I may give an opinion on that, I think,
12:31I can't remember his first two teams, but Philly was first.
12:34Philly, the New Orleans?
12:35Yeah, exactly.
12:37So you have to, don't, you know, if you're a player preaching team,
12:41those two organizations at that time really aren't buying in. Okay. So then you go,
12:47you know, so then you go to Milwaukee, he wins a title.
12:50Wins a title.
12:51And they obviously make, well, I don't know if it would have made a difference now,
12:55because I don't know where the freak's head is, but, you know, they said, okay, we bring in Damon,
13:01we're going to improve. So that's almost a victim of circumstance,
13:05but you bring him to this team and you talk about how he has a team mindset.
13:10This is the perfect environment for him.
13:11Oh, it is. It is perfect. It's ideal. And in every way, but we are in the respect of
13:17Giannis when he was in Milwaukee, that's the story that I was alluding to.
13:21And yeah, you know, we're just so lucky to have him. And we're lucky as we were lucky to have
13:25Derek White, we're lucky, you know, and to have these guys and have them both together is a dream
13:30scenario for him.
13:32I would also say, if you look at the past, they are Celtics.
13:41Yes. Oh, absolutely. Red would have been, imagine, oh God, Red would be proud of these guys.
13:46Tommy would be proud of these guys. Oh yeah. All the prior teammates,
13:50the Havliceks and the Nelsons and the Cowens and Silases of the world would be
13:56thrilled to play with these guys. Absolutely. They are enamel, no question.
14:01No doubt about it. 1991 was quite an interesting year.
14:08We were coming to the end of the bird era and the Rifleman was up there with the Pacers.
14:13How do you remember that series with the Celtics and the Pacers?
14:16Well, Chuck Person was a real force and there was a lot of back and forth going on,
14:23good natured stuff, really, you know, about it. And it was a five game series. And on Sunday
14:30afternoon, the Celtics are in trouble. Larry winds up going for something, going for it.
14:38Hits his, bangs his head on the floor.
14:39I know.
14:40Boom. Has to leave the game. They're trailing. It looks like the ship's going to sink and we're
14:46going to go home in the first round. And Larry and the videos out there, folks, they show the
14:53cameras are on Larry emerging from the locker room on the corridor. The cavalry is arriving.
14:59The angels are singing.
15:01Right. Absolutely. The cavalry is arriving. The angels are singing. The Hasanas,
15:05the crowd sees them. They go berserk.
15:08They go crazy.
15:09He comes in and he does it. He does the job. He becomes Larry Bird again and they win the game.
15:16And after the game, Bob Hill, who replaced, who got fired? Somebody got fired in the beginning of
15:23the season by Indiana. He was the coach and he said, I told my guys he's coming back. And when
15:31he does get be ready. He did. I told my guys he's coming back and damn if he didn't. It is one of
15:38the, you know, in the lore, in the Bird lore, L-O-R-E, in the Bird lore, it is one of the top
15:44five, you know, if not the incidence of, of, of Daring Do, you know, that he did that. It was
15:52really one of the last, you know, he only had one more year. And after that, it might've been the
15:57last great moment. You know, well, I think so. Yeah. Well, I had a 46, I think I had a 46 point
16:02game out in the next year, but, but it was, you know, starting in 89, it was always a matter.
16:09Is Larry going to be healthy?
16:11Oh, the back. Oh, sure.
16:13And, and, and, you know, and, and his rest of his career was always a matter if Larry's available.
16:18And, and, and it was, it was a struggle for less, well, those three or four years.
16:23And he did get out at the right time. He gave it a shot. He gave it a shot and he got out at the
16:29right time.
16:30Larry couldn't, Larry, if it weren't, you know, I mean, he, he, when they threw him over to,
16:34for the Olympics, he had to lie on the floor in a plane. And, you know, I mean, he, he only had
16:39one really good game in the Olympics against Germany. I remember, you know, it was so ceremonial,
16:44you know, but he wanted to be there and he should have been there. And he was, and, and, and, and
16:49he and magic got to play together and, and it was, and it was what it was, but,
16:54but it was, it was definitely time. You're right.
16:58Playoff time. There is nothing like it. I mean, the energy, the effort amps up a good 50 to 75%
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17:32So here's what you should do. You download the game time app and you browse it. And you can see
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18:36last minute tickets, lowest prices guaranteed. It's always dangerous to compare players of today
18:43to players of the past. But when you look at Larry in that game and Bob Hill says he's coming back
18:49and be ready for him. And we all know the video of the bird. We see the name on the back of the
18:54warmup jersey going through the garden tunnel. Was it? Yeah, the garden tunnel.
19:00Yeah, it was the original garden.
19:01Yeah, the original garden, the garden tunnel, because it was not enough. So,
19:06would today's player come back in a game like that? You would hope so. But now with
19:14load management, and what I was thinking about, like Jason Tidman, this isn't fair. And please,
19:22if you're watching this, I'm not being critical of Jason Tatum. I'm done with that.
19:28I'm talking about today's player, where agents and managers are saying you got to take care of
19:34your body and your product is your, and it's true. I mean, your body is your livelihood.
19:42I remember Jordan playing with 104 degree temperature. Larry, we just talked about that
19:49game, you know, Isaiah Thomas, Isaiah Thomas and against the Lakers in 88. 25 point period
19:57on a bad leg. Yeah. So it's just, I don't know, maybe I'm being unfair, but that just isn't there
20:03anymore. Well, no, the whole tenor. Yeah, you're right. It's I you I'm trying to figure you think
20:08about what individuals we might cite might want to do it. You know, you know, we could be I don't
20:13know, Jimmy Butler, I guess comes to mind, you know, he's a tough guy. Right. But and he's a
20:19standard standard of toughness right now in this game, quite frankly. So there might there's there's
20:24some out there. But I think you're right. The times are different. You know, I'll tell somebody
20:29now because what flashed across my mind as you were speaking, because there's suspicions of
20:36an L.A. when Pierce exited in a wheelchair. Oh, right. Thank you. Game one in 08 and came back.
20:43That has been greeted with profound skepticism out there in L.A., you know, about. Well, yeah. Oh,
20:49Jackson. But the truth was he didn't need it. No, no. But it was a doctor. Because I remember I
20:55remember that because I was on a job. The doctor in defense of the doc who was a Brian McKeon,
21:04I think, who took unfairly took some criticism to this. He said in his mind in like five seconds in
21:12his mind, and I think he made the right call. My star player just went down. OK, I don't know what's
21:20going on. Put him in a wheelchair. It's a playoff, you know, and I know. And I think that that was
21:26his reaction that, OK, you know, where he was like and he took some grief for that after. And I was
21:32like, you know, I just being I'll tell you, I've talked to medical professionals. They told me and
21:39many have told me they wouldn't be a team doctor if you paid them all the money in the world.
21:45Well, interesting. It's just you can't win. Can't win, you know, because, you know, look, the coaches
21:51always say it's up to the team doc and then the players get the agent. But come on. I mean,
21:58you know, the coach wants the guy to play. I mean, Belichick's famous for that.
22:03You know, I don't know. Talk to the team doctor. But you know how it is.
22:09So that story. So that story, I think, has been a little exaggerated in that it was the doctor.
22:15And I think the doctor made the right call. He's the franchise. So he goes in in the wheelchair
22:22and then they find out everything's fine. That's it. I give you one more example, you know,
22:28off the top of my head here of Celtic playing through an injury. Very notably, that was McHale
22:36in 87. And his life, his whole career changed in February of 87, when he was in the middle
22:43of his greatest season. And he got stepped on by Larry Nance, senior. Now you have to say senior.
22:49Right. And messed up his foot. And remember, by the time we got to the playoffs,
22:56Larry famously saying that Kevin shouldn't even be playing. Larry said it out loud, you know,
23:02and Kevin was playing. And of course, the rest of his career, he was never quite the same.
23:07Right. He was still had his moments, of course, but it was never quite the same. But that was
23:12famous for Larry coming out and saying that about Larry to say, because Larry, he used to give Kevin
23:17crap for not. Oh, yeah. That was an interesting relationship, you know, and Kevin started
23:22shooting threes. Well, he made a three in desperate. Yeah, he had to take a three and
23:27against the Pistons, I think it was. And it went in. And, you know, at the end of a clock of 24
23:32second clock, and it's almost like a light bulb went up his head. And from that point, you know,
23:37he's became he started turning himself into something of a three point shooter. And I asked
23:42him about this kiddingly once. And he I said, Kevin, did you decide that I like taking these
23:49threes? It's better than getting the S.H.I.T. kicked out of you in the low post. And he said,
23:54yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, so but yeah, that was that was funny. And then, Bob, you mentioned this
24:03in our pre show meeting, Pierce, when he went to the podium, bandage on his face. And Antoine was
24:08next to him. Antoine was laughing. I mean, what a crazy. That was in Indiana. That was against
24:13the Pacers in Indianapolis. I remember that night. And it was just our mouths fell open. What the
24:18hell is this? And it looked like all I could think of was, you know, the soldiers at Valley
24:23Forge and, you know, the famous pictures. But he's got the ghost people. Do you have to know?
24:29It's just it was amazing. You got to Google it because it was crazy. Yeah, it was. So that was
24:33that was fun. Was even look at him like, what are you doing? He was. Yeah, he's complaining about
24:38the files, you know, the whole bit. It was it was funny. But so anyway, so that we have our history
24:45with the Pacers. We have our history with the Pacers. And they're going to put up, as I told
24:52you, I told you, they're going to put up a very good fight. They're fun to watch. Look, it's been
24:56great. And the Pacers, an original ABA team, original. Oh, they certainly are. They were
25:00arguably the most successful. They won, I think, three championships, I believe,
25:04during a tenure. And of course, they're beloved out there. Those guys are beloved.
25:08The Roger Browns and Bob Nettlicky and Louie. No, not Louie Dampier. He's out. He was Kentucky.
25:13What about George McGinnis? McGinnis. Oh, my God. It was a local kid, literally from Indianapolis.
25:18And oh, yeah, those guys are beloved. I remember being out there the first time I ever went out
25:22there and how revered they are. Also, when you go to the what is now the Gainbridge,
25:31you know, it's changed its name several times. It was originally it was the Conceical Fieldhouse.
25:34Yeah, I built this thing. There's great homage to the ABA, but also there's great homage to high
25:40school and college in there. You're reminded where that religion basketball is a state religion
25:45in Indiana and always has been going back into the early part of the 20th century.
25:51So and of course, Hoosiers, as famous a basketball movie as there's ever been. So anyway,
25:57they love their basketball there, but their ABA people are. Oh, Slick Leonard was a god there.
26:02Bob is. Slick Leonard. Slick Leonard, who is from, I believe, Terre Haute.
26:07He won a high school championship there in 1949. He won an NCAA championship there in 1953
26:13with the Hoosiers and coached them. You know, so he's he was absolutely.
26:19The immersion of the four ABA teams into the NBA, what did that do for the NBA?
26:24Well, first of all, it the All-Star Game in 1977, 24 players, 10 of them were ABA expatriates.
26:3410 of them had with 10 of the 24 players in the 1977 All-Star Game, the first year of the merger
26:40were ex-NBA players that told you that proved their point to how good they were compared.
26:46And I know I covered the Celtics, you know, and throughout that period in which they played
26:53exhibition games against the Nets, against the Pacers, against the Memphis, whichever
27:00bros or tams they were at the time. Right. And Carolina Cougars, Denver Nugget. And
27:06they lost those games, some of those games. Kentucky Colonels.
27:09That opened. Yeah, they never played them. But they played all those teams. And, you know,
27:13I remember the Nets beating them. I remember Carolina beating them. You know, I mean,
27:18and I'd open my eyes because I was I was a skeptic and I got converted that, hey,
27:24those guys are pretty good. Well, Isil, Dr. J, George McGinnis.
27:30I think that Hubie Brown was the head coach of the Kentucky Colonels that won the championship.
27:35His starting lineup was Artis Gilmore, Dan Isil, Cincy Powell, who was a bruising guy,
27:42Louie Dampier, and I think Daryl Carrier. And he will tell you he thinks that's the
27:46best team he ever coached, I think. Better than the Bucs, better than the Knicks.
27:50Wow. I mean, that's when Artis was good. I mean, when Artis, you know.
27:54Yeah. I mean, I was never a huge fan of Artis. But, you know, you got to give him his due,
27:58you know, to a to a degree, you know, probably with Artis. This is a whole topic for another
28:02day. Of course, a great guy. A sweet man, a wonderful, nice human being, an intelligent man,
28:08a sensitive man. And I don't think he loved basketball. Right. I think he's the original
28:12kid who was walking down the corridor and the coach said, hey, big guy, play, come out for the
28:18team. Right. He was a gentle soul. He didn't have a killer instinct at all. And he just,
28:25you know, he just wasn't all that competitive, but he was a very nice. But you always remember
28:29that? I don't remember this one. When he joined the team, Larry adopted him. I don't know,
28:34Larry, like he maybe he thought, I want to get the most out of him. I want to have. How can we
28:39benefit the most from this guy? And Larry became like his confidant, his mentor. Here's where we
28:47got to eat. Here's where we're going to go. It's really interesting. And he gave him a couple of
28:51pretty good games. But, you know, he was what he was. But he's a nice human being.
28:59Moses Malone, he was drafted by the Utah Stars, right?
29:02He was drafted by the Stars at 18. It was a right. Yeah. I'm telling you, I tell this story
29:08all the time. I was out there on the road with the Celtics and I moonlighted off into the ABA
29:14to do a piece on the side. I went to a couple of ABA stops while I was on a Celtic West Coast
29:19road trip. I go to Utah and I knew Larry Brown. I knew him at the time from when we was coaching
29:24in Carolina. And we're talking before and he tells me this is Moses's rookie year. He said,
29:32Bob, he's the greatest offensive rebounder I've ever seen in my life. And of course, at that time,
29:37the gold standard was Paul Silas. And I was, of course, I worship Paul Silas, you know, and I
29:41said, what are you talking about? Then I saw him play. Oh, OK. Moses Malone, ladies and gentlemen,
29:49the first rule of rebounding is very simple. Above all else, do you want the damn ball or don't you?
29:56Go. Do you want that ball? Is it like it's do you want that ball? I want that ball.
30:02Moses Malone wanted that ball as much as anybody has ever won. And great rebounders get rebounds
30:08that, quote, don't belong to them. A lot of guys get rebounds. They're in the corridor,
30:11they box out, they get dropped. But to go after that extra. Moses Malone was as great a rebounder
30:18as we've ever known in that regard. He wanted that damn ball. And from the day he walked into
30:22on that court. So, you know, but I'll never forget. He's 18 or 19 years old. And this is
30:28what Larry Brown is telling me. Well, yeah, because the ABA at the time, you could go right from high
30:33school and the NBA wouldn't allow you those days, of course. But the ABA did. And now he was he was
30:40going to go, you know, he was famously going to go to Maryland. Lefty had recruited him. That's
30:44where he would have gone. He would have gone to Maryland. But anyway, it all worked out for Moses.
30:49Three MVP's later. Yeah, it all worked out. And of course, Larry had the famous quote. And we will
30:55end on that. Oh, yes. That's back. That's back when players didn't share agents and have dinner
31:03together at All-Star Games. Bob, always a pleasure, especially going down memory lane.
31:09We have two great conference finals to watch and I will talk to you again next week.