Celtics ☘️ Sentinel

 It's E ast Finals MVP (Jayson Tatum) versus the West Finals MVP (Steph Curry) . East coast against West coast. Memories of Larry Bird battling Magic Johnson. Youth clashing with age. The Number-1 defense confronting the Number-2 "D". It rarely gets better than this . Golden State will have home-court advantage in the series, but the Celtics managed to get three-of-their-four wins on the road against Miami . Home-court seemed to make little difference in the series. So here we go. The Bob Cousy Trophy winning Celtics versus the Oscar Robertson Trophy winning Warriors . If this doesn't excite you, you may not be a true NBA fan. "The Splash Brothers" batting "The Jay Team" - Marcus Smart wreaking havoc with the Warrior's offense - Steph firing shots from everywhere - Draymond Green doing a little bit of everything. And Rookie Head Coach, Ime Udoka, matching wits with seasoned Coach, Steve Kerr. Both coaches are disciples of Gregg Popovich...

 NBA Champion NBA MVP NBA All-Star All-NBA Team The above-four honors are the main indicators for lasting fame in the NBA. Bill Russell, Dave Cowens and Larry Bird hold a combined 81 awards from the four categories. Notice that of the four honors, only one can be attributed to a team effort, and that is NBA Champ. Take notice, Jayson Tatum! But even the three individual awards depend somewhat on team success . Making All-NBA often relies on a player being on a team with at least a moderately-good record. For example, Russell Westbrook is having one terrific season, recently breaking Oscar Robertson's record for triple-doubles in a season, but there is some doubt that he will make All-NBA this year because his team, the Wizards, own a 32-38 record . The Celtics Jayson Tatum has already achieved star status in the League, but to separate himself from the pack and get into serious consideration as future MVP or top-5 status , he needs to grab that leadership role next season and ...

 As a hopefully-welcome diversion to a disappointing Celtics season, I broach the following to my readers - and welcome them to join in. Here are my choices for the Magnificent-7 , along with a few guidelines in choosing them.   I broke my own rule when I put Russ into The Magnificent-7. He had a weakness. he could not shoot - at least beyond 10 feet. Only 15.1 PPG for his career, along with 56% on free throws. See my reasoning tomorrow and join in. https://t.co/99cOwo0pJR — Tom Lane (@CelticsSentinel) May 7, 2021 As I stated in the above tweet, I did break my rule for "no significant weaknesses" in putting Bill Russell into the mix. He would never be compared to Sam Jones as an outside shooter, nor would he be close to Bob Cousy as a ball handler. But he was so damn dominant in most other categories - and such a winner - he can' be left out. As far as picking the sole player still on the hardwood, Lebron James , many may not like him as a person, but this guy has bee...

Former Boston Celtics guard, Larry Siegfried was a 5-Time NBA Champion with the Boston Celtics in the 1960's, and like Gordon Hayward, he wore #20. I was always a fan of Siggy for his toughness and relentless defense. I never thought I would meet him in person, but that happened in the spring of 1972. I had recently walked away from my career as a Research Engineer at National Research Corporation in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where my scientist partner and I developed the disposable foam ear plugs that are so common today. I took a temporary job as a Game Warden patrolling the banks of the rivers and streams of central Massachusetts. While walking the along the banks of the Squannacook River in Townsend, I spotted a fly-fisherman mid-stream at a distance and recognized him immediately as Larry Siegfried. His fishing license was visible on his vest, so I told him he did not have to come out of the water. But he did anyway - he wanted to talk. He had just retired from the NBA a...