Rick Pitino is a name that has not been a popular one among fans of the Boston Celtics for many years now due to the gross mismanagement of one of the NBA’s marquee franchises during his tenure as team president and coach in the mid-to-late 1990s.
At least some of the animus against Pitino may not be entirely his fault, such as the bad luck leading to the San Antonio Spurs ending up with Hall of Fame big man Tim Duncan in the NBA draft. But that did not make the job of ML Carr any easier when it became his responsibility to try and talk the Spurs out of the top pick of the 1997 draft.
“We worked very hard to put the team in position to get, potentially, the first pick,” said Carr to NBC Sports Boston. “It didn’t happen.”
Boston Celtics alum Chris Herren beat the odds to make the NBA as a player, but famously became entangled in drug use on his way. https://t.co/7FR8EHwR9u
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) February 14, 2023
“When it didn’t happen, obviously there was disappointment,” he continued.
“We came up with the third pick. I got a call from the folks in Boston, the Pitino group, asking, ‘Could we give picks to (Spurs head coach and team president Gregg) Popovich and ask him if he would trade the first pick for a couple — like third and six.”
“Obviously, you have got to do it;” Carr explained. “It’s what they asked.”
The Celtics star grew up idolizing Bryant, who later became a friend and mentor. https://t.co/UiUS8xXbO0
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“I went to Popovich, he felt sorry that I even had to ask,” related the former Celtics GM.
“Because I knew right then, to get Tim Duncan away from San Antonio, we’d have to give them the Prudential Center, all the money on the Mass Pike, you’d have to give them all of the North End, you’d have to give them all the suburbs, and probably the Callahan Tunnel revenue, as well as the Ted Williams revenue for the next 40-50 years.”
“And it still probably wouldn’t have been enough to give it up,” he shared.
In the annals of NBA trash talkers, there have been few on the same level as Hall of Fame Boston Celtics forward Larry Bird. https://t.co/AGb4o9VpfP
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“It was a stupid question,” admitted Carr. “A stupid question you have to ask, and Popovich knew it so he said, ‘No, we think we’re going to hold onto it.'”
“I had to do it,” he reiterated. “It was a bad moment for the Celtics because we had the best opportunity with the ping pong balls and it went the other way.”
“It would have been great to have Timmy because there would have been more banners flying, I’m sure,” he finished, and while counterfactuals may indeed be unprovable by nature, we have a hunch that Carr is right.
KG opened up about the beloved clip played in blowout wins since his time with the Celtics at his jersey retirement ceremony. https://t.co/DbJUzfUPdI
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) February 13, 2023
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