The Association: Boston Celtics

"What hurts more, the pain of hard work or the pain of regret?" - Celtics motto


I've finished watching the documentary series "The Association: Boston Celtics", as I happened to chance upon it while looking through Boston Celtics videos on YouTube. No surprise, by now you should have realised that I'm a Celtics fan. I first saw the Celtics in action when I was invited over to my friend's house in the morning here in Singapore to catch the live action of the 2010 NBA Finals Game 7 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics, some 8774 miles away. I don't really like the Lakers led by the talented but cocky and often considered a "ball hog" by fans, Kobe Bryant, so I soon found myself cheering for the Green and Whites, the long arch-rivals of the Lakers.


If you know anything about rivalry in sports, especially the most popular football rivalries between Manchester United and Liverpool, and the one between Barcelona and Real Madrid, you'll find this rivalry of the two basketball franchises very similar. In fact, Manchester United have won 19 Premier League trophies while Liverpool won 18, and the LA Lakers actually won 16 NBA Championships while the Boston Celtics won 17. Just too darn similar, isn't it?


In a best of seven games series of the NBA Finals that I was watching, Game 7 was to be the tiebreaker and to determine the new NBA Champion. Being held at the Staples Center in LA, the game attracted Hollywood stars and past legends such as Earvin "Magic" Johnson and so on, and I was really lucky to be able to watch the live telecast. It was an exciting battle between the Kings of the East and West, and as I watched on, the Celtics initially had a solid lead. In the last quarter, things began to break down for the Celtics and Kobe Bryant, along with team-mates Ron Artest and Derek Fisher, led the charge to eventually lead the Celtics by a small margin late in the final minutes of the game. Eventually the Lakers won by a seemingly miraculous comeback in the Finals. Upon witnessing the tough and heartbreaking loss for the C's, I was stunned and felt really sad for them.


No one wants to lose at Game 7 of the NBA Finals. They were so close to the NBA title yet it fell to someone else's hands, and to add into the wounds, they lost to their long-time arch rivals. The historical rivalry between the two teams started way back in the 1960's, when the Celtics led by Bill Russell and Sam Jones competed against the Lakers led by Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West. Man, the three-point line had not even been in place yet. The Celtics won all 6 times against the Lakers in the 1960's era when they went head to head in the NBA Finals. Following up in the 1980's era, the emergence of the Showtime LA Lakers led by Magic Johnson and the Celtics led by Larry Bird reignited the deep rivalry between these two teams again, dominating much of the action in the 1980's. The rivalry turned into everlasting friendship between the two greatest NBA icons Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, whose rivalry saved the failing NBA at the point in time, and marked the best rivalry of all time. Not even Michael Jordan came close in beating that rivalry (since he didn't really have a near equal arch-rival in his era but no doubt he's the GOAT). I remember even writing an essay about the rivalry for my English prelims last year, and scoring 27/30!! 


That was in the past, let's look into the recent match-ups. In the 2007-08 season, the Big Three assembled in Boston: Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. They will then go on to meet the Lakers led by Kobe Bryant in the NBA Finals once again since 1987, in which they will clinch the NBA championship again, hanging yet another championship banner in the TD Garden, home of the Boston Celtics. They then met again in 2010, in a deciding Game 7 and Celtics eventually gave up a solid lead and lost to the Lakers.


I'm in love with the Boston Celtics because of the brotherly love the team had for one another, From Delonte West, Glen Davis, Kendrick Perkins to Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, the Boston Celtics had always been a family. The Brotherhood, I'd call it, really. With head coach Doc Rivers as the father of the family, the Celtics had great team chemistry feared by many others in the league, and a unbroken bond between one another. Although business and trades separated some of them, but they will always be a family. 


"The Association: Boston Celtics" starts off after the terrible loss of the Lakers in the 2010 NBA Finals and how the Celtics began to push themselves back into form again and to redeem themselves from their mistakes in the Finals. It also shows the ups and downs of the Celtics during the season, including Garnett's, West's and Shaq's injuries, and also the worst thing that ever happened to them: Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson's trade to Oklahoma City. To them, it's like a loss of a family member. A stab in the heart. My eyes went all wet and tears began to drop as I listened and actually felt the hurt it did to the Celtics players. 


I feel that this team deserves my utmost respect as they displayed unmoving determination, amazing talents, an unbreakable bond and the brotherly love and care for one another. A true family. If anything, I would recommend you to watch the videos, as it really is meaningful and you can definitely feel the struggles and triumphs the Celtics faced day in day out. Till today, I remained a Celtics fan and will always be. In my heart, the Boston Celtics were, are and will always be the NBA Champions. Let's go Celtics, capture Banner 18!! #IAmACeltic


P.S I really need to get a Boston Celtics jersey/T-Shirt soon!!


"Once I found out it was done, I broke down in tears. It’s just the love. It is a genuine love for each other. I don’t consider these guys as teammates; I consider them as brothers. I don’t consider the coaches as coaches; I consider them as fathers to me. I am just happy to have had the chance to play with Hall of Famers and been a part of the Celtics history.” - Kendrick Perkins