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Whats the biggest free agent contract ever given to a player by the Celtics? Dominique?? It seems we always have cap issues. Even with our bad teams. And no elite players want to come to Boston. Would be nice to be able to add an elite player without having to make a trade for him. Discouraging to see the other teams get better without giving much up (Clev, LA, SA).

I don't understand why F.A.'s don't want to come here. But it's getting pretty ridiculous.

I think there is a semblance from the 1980s that the Celtics are uncool and too white.

Many of the African-American's see Boston as the home of the white superstar Larry Bird. Think Havlicik, Cowens, Bird, McHale. So essentially, Boston is a white man's team.

It belies Celtics history, Celtics had Russell and have generally been a great place for the black player, but Boston was the white man's team, while LA was and Showtime and were the black man's team. No inner city youth in the 1980s grew up a Celtics fan.

So when they get to the NBA, the cold-weather and the perceived unfriendliness of Boston to the black athlete is what is causing this. Working-class Bostonians don't have the greatest race record. It is just a stereotype that Boston has to beat. The Dee Brown fiasco a couple of years ago further hurt us.

What was the Dee Brown fiasco?

^Racial profiling. Black man riding a nice car being stopped and roughed up by police.

Why do people always have to play the race card.

jfs1000d wrote:I think there is a semblance from the 1980s that the Celtics are uncool and too white.

Many of the African-American's see Boston as the home of the white superstar Larry Bird. Think Havlicik, Cowens, Bird, McHale. So essentially, Boston is a white man's team.

It belies Celtics history, Celtics had Russell and have generally been a great place for the black player, but Boston was the white man's team, while LA was and Showtime and were the black man's team. No inner city youth in the 1980s grew up a Celtics fan.

So when they get to the NBA, the cold-weather and the perceived unfriendliness of Boston to the black athlete is what is causing this. Working-class Bostonians don't have the greatest race record. It is just a stereotype that Boston has to beat. The Dee Brown fiasco a couple of years ago further hurt us.

Unfortunately, I think you're correct----All I ever hear from African American Players, is how they grew up Lakers or Bulls fans---you NEVER hear how they were rooting for Bird, McHale or Ainge....once they get here-they embrace the Legacy of BILL RUSSELL....oh well, let's hope KG, PP and Ray are enough to get Rasheed to come.

There's nothing wrong embracing the legacy of BILL RUSSELL - perhaps the greatest ever. I'm not saying not embracing Bird, McHale, etc is ok, but Russell is the greatest winner ever. So why not embrace the greatest?

Nice theory, but plenty of white free agents have overlooked Boston too.

I believe it. The Celtics have always been portrayed as uncool, and race probably had something to do with it - both from a perspective of blacks perceiving them as the white man's team, AND from not fulfilling the stereotype of black athletes that many white fans want to see (think about it - it's usually whites going on and on about how white men can't jump, or how our defense is a bunch of whiteys - even though it's ostensibly a dig at their own race, I think it's more a case of embracing/perpetuating a stereotype of blacks as freakish athletes and whites as being "normal" and unathletic.)

I also don't think that "race card"with a picture of a (former) congresswoman is particularly appropriate or classy either...I don't think this is the place for cutesy race-baiting photoshops/sigs...

It's all Spike Lee's fault. Damn that stooge.

Anyway, there is a decent chance that this resolves by the next generation...in 2027 FA's will have grown up Celtics fans, I hope.

DJToLarry wrote:Whats the biggest free agent contract ever given to a player by the Celtics? Dominique?? It seems we always have cap issues. Even with our bad teams. And no elite players want to come to Boston. Would be nice to be able to add an elite player without having to make a trade for him. Discouraging to see the other teams get better without giving much up (Clev, LA, SA).

Dana Barros received something in the neighborhood of $20 million for six years (I'm too lazy to go back and check the numbers) back in the summer of 1995 (after an all-star year in Philadelphia). He was a Boston College guy though, so he definitely had some intangibles pushing him toward Boston. But he was probably the best player to ever come in as a free agent.

Actually, now that I think about it, Travis Knight might have been given a bigger contract back in 1997. Something like $22 million for seven years. That still makes me shudder.

Pacers will be ****ed in 2027 then.

You'd think the Celtics had a ton of white guys on their team still, but we only have the Big Scalamental.

OTOH Look at what Bird has done to the Pacers...
Last year he had
Travis Diener
Jeff Foster
Mike Dunleavy
Troy Murphy
Josh McRoberts
Nesterovic

and then this year he drafted Hansbrough.