It was purely coincidental that they had so many white guys in the 80s. Those were the best guys they could get at the time given where their draft picks were in the first round, given the salary cap, and given what players were available in trades.

The fact that guys like Spike Lee called Red Auerbach, the most racially progressive GM in all of pro sports in the 50s and 60s, a racist during that time period simply proves that people really, really, really need to learn about history before they open their mouths.

John Thompson’s kid took his entire Georgetown basketball team to Red’s wake in D.C. in 2006 out of respect for what Red did to advance the cause of integration in the NBA.

Guys like Bryant, Lee, and those two morons from the NY Times who wrote that scandalous book about the “Selling of the Green”, which called the Celtics racist, should be forced to sit down and learn the actual history of the Celtics’ franchise.

And let’s face it…..if Len Bias hadn’t been a fool and killed himself with cocaine, none of this crap spewed by guys like Bryant, Lee, et al, would have any “juice” at all. Bias would have converted ALL non-whites who hated the Celtics because of their racial makeup back then into fans….all of them.

I can tell you the rumor is true. On 93.7, the HD-1 is regular Mike, HD-2 is “Funkytown”, and while the display of the HD-3 simply says “WMKK-HD 3″ it is definitely WEEI, and their facebook group said they would have Sox and Celts games as part of it. Celts indeed were on. I still had a bit of trouble at work picking up the HD signal (even though I’m 5 miles from
the antenna) but, that’s my workplace. It did come in, in our
“breakroom”. In homes, on the go, etc. it should be OK. In my own home, it was.

I’d be happy with Mike (reg signal) just simulcasting Sox games, let alone
WEEI going there in full.

btw: at my home in Beverly even the WEEI translator at 96.3 was coming in on the HD unit (not an HD signal, but the reg analog one at 96.3)–but I’m up high and near the water. My workplace is kinda like Homer Simpson’s nuclear power plant,
only worse.

I know it was always “out there,” but to me it was a side note, not a major aspect of it.

HBO treats it like it was almost equally as important as the basketball rivalry.

I’d like to believe that if Magic had come to Boston and Bird gone to L.A., the Celtics would have been just as popular here in the 80s as they were with Bird and the rest of that crew. I know I was in H.S. and college at the time and I loved The Chief and D.J., and even moody Cedric Maxwell as much as I loved Bird and the rest of the team. They were Boston’s NBA franchise and, at the time, most Americans still recognized them as the gold-standard for winning in professional sports, since the dynasty years were not nearly as far removed from the present as they are now.

With her gone it leaves Mike Reiss as the lone rational person covering the Pats.