Back at the end of the 2005-06 season, Delonte West and Paul Pierce filmed a segment over at Fox Sports Net (Now CSN) together breaking down their own fashion styles and discussing the team’s prospects for the upcoming season.
The five minute interview’s highlights include Delonte discussing “future All-Stars” Tony Allen and Al Jefferson, (2 minute mark) and Paul Pierce anticipating a trip to Europe (3:30) to scout for the team’s trip there for next year, that we all know will go down in history.
An entertaining few minutes if nothing else, and you have the sense that both West and Pierce genuinely get along here. You know Danny wouldn’t have brought in West without the blessing for the key members of his roster, so it’s apparent here just how comfortable Delonte was in Boston back then. Here’s to hoping he can return to that place next season.
Let’s be clear: This is a great deal for the Celtics. They are getting a league average player with major post-season experience, and they’re getting him for the minimum salary (about $1.1 million for West) and the same amount in luxury tax payments. While the Grizzlies ownership is nickel-and-diming the team’s first-round draft picks to save Rudy Gay’s beer money, the C’s ownership is throwing $2.2 million at a player with a shaky mental health history—even though the team already had 14 players under contract and one back-up (Von Wafer) playing the same position as West.
This is a good period to be a Celtics fan. Don’t forget that.
Again: This is a great deal, and it’s a great deal because the C’s aren’t giving up any basketball assets to make it happen. And that, to me, is the story of this off-season. » Read more: Delonte West, The End of the Offseason
Upon confirming the C’s will be signing Delonte West to a deal this afternoon, Celtics President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge spoke with the media this afternoon about the signing and other concerns relating to the team. Our man over at ESPNBoston.com. Chris Forsberg has us covered with the latest the C’s top dog had to say on West, training camp, and the rest of the roster.
On Trading Delonte West in 2007:
“He was one of the toughest guys for me to trade, I’d do it again, of course, but we really liked Delonte when he was here. Even though we knew the issues and the challenges he needed to take care of, we also think Delonte is in a better place today than he was the day he left. He wasn’t perfect, but we still liked the player.”
On Team’s Familiarity with West:
“There’s a familiarity with the roster and a familiarity with the players, Paul [Pierce] and Rajon [Rondo], especially, were big fans having played with him. I’m a fan of Delonte.”
On Training Camp Plans:
“When I played for the Celtics, we never went away… It’s a long season, guys can sleep in their own beds.”
On Prospects of Tony Gaffney and Oliver Lafayette of Making The Roster:
“We’ll keep the best players.”
A couple other key notes from Forsberg’s column include the admission that Ainge wouldn’t close the door on making any more moves before the start of the season. » Read more: Ainge Talks About West Signing
The rumors have been out there for about a week now. Someone texted into to Toucher and Rich that Delonte West was seen at Logan Airport last week. There was an email into Red’s Army, that West was getting a physical at New England Baptist Hospital. Reports of apartment shopping in The Boston Herald in Waltham. Usually when there is enough smoke like that, there’s fire and that looks to be the case today.
Marc Spears of Yahoo.com caught up with Doc Rivers while traveling with his son Austin. Spears happened to ask Rivers about the Celtics’ final game of the season:
“It still hurts the same,” Rivers said. “That won’t go away. I had dinner with [Rajon] Rondo and ‘Baby’ [Glen Davis] in Vegas and they were talking about how much it hurts. I said, ‘I hope it hurts you for the rest of your life. It should.’ ”
Those are some harsh words. Harsh, but all too true and important. It’s nice to know that professional athletes have the capacity to care about their craft as much as fans do. All too often there are stories about athletes not caring or purposely not giving everything they have (see Vince Carter).
Rivers knows all too well about life long regrets. In 1994, Rivers was on the New York Knicks team that lost the NBA Finals to the Houston Rockets after being up 3-2. Eeeshhh. Remind you of anything?
At any rate, this type of tough love is yet another example of why I wish Doc Rivers were my Dad.
Loading ...
Delonte West, The End of the Offseason
By Zach Lowe, CelticsHub.com @ September 2nd, 8:31 am 33 comments »This is a good period to be a Celtics fan. Don’t forget that.
Again: This is a great deal, and it’s a great deal because the C’s aren’t giving up any basketball assets to make it happen. And that, to me, is the story of this off-season. » Read more: Delonte West, The End of the Offseason
33 comments »
Posted in Commentary, Features