I have a discussion with a somewhat intelligent guy often about sports. Yes he is opinionated and yes he is from Boston. His name Rick Hurwitz. He believes 100% the 1st pick of the NBA draft this year will be the Boston Celtics. His belief is that the NBA wants the Celtics to be good and possibly great again and will make this happen. My response is simple – let’s go back to the history books to 1997 when the Celtics were favored and had the most ping pong balls to get the number one pick. Rick Pitino took the Celtics job for one reason and one reason only. He was betting heavily the number one pick would be his and he would take Tim Duncan. He was wrong – just like Rick Hurwitz will be this year. FICTION!
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Bob Graham says:
My heart is with Rick on this, but my head is with Merrill. I desperately want the Celtics to be great again, but I don’t think that any amount of fanageling with the ping pong balls will guaranty Boston the first pick. In a perfect world, UMASS would become a top BB program again and it’s star players would eventually play for the Celtics.
Matt Jordan says:
Who cares if Boston gets the first pick? With Ainge and Rivers in charge, it will never matter!
RICK says:
MY COMMENTS ARE DRIVEN BY THE SAME RATIONAL THE NBA WILL USE AT DRAFT TIME ON MAY 22ND. MONEY. THE NBA IS A BUSINESS, NOT A SPORT. PLAYING SOFTBALL WITH YOUR FRIENDS ON A FRIDAY NIGHT IS A SPORT. MULTI BILLION DOLLAR INDUSTRIES LIKE THE NBA ARE MORE CONCERNED WITH THE BOTTOM LINE. HISTORY HAS SHOWN THAT CERTAIN PLAYERS DO GET ON CERTAIN TEAMS - PATRICK EWING FOUND HIS WAY TO THE KNICKS, ALAN IVERSON WENT TO PHILLY. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME A “MAJOR” COLLEGE TALENT WENT TO A CRAPPY NBA CITY?
LETS LOOK AT THE TOP 8 TEAMS IN THE LOTTERY AND EXAMINE THEIR ODDS, PRETEND YOU ARE DAVID STERNS. LET ME ADD ONE INTERESTING SURVEY FOR YOU TO CONSIDER. IN AN ESPN SURVEY OF MALES BETWEEN THE AGES OF 25-45 THEY WERE ASKED THEIR FAVORITE SPORT
NFL - 29%
MLB - 18%
COLLEGE FOOTBALL - 13%
NASCAR - 11%
NASCAR?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME. I DO NOT SEE THE NBA ON THE LIST. THEY ARE PROBABLY LISTED ALONG WITH MSL SOCCER, NHL HOCKEY (NOT IN CANADA) AND THE LPGA
SO SEEING WHERE YOUR LEAGUE IS AT (REMEMBER YOU ARE DAVID STERNS) HERE ARE YOUR OPTIONS TO PLACE TWO SUPERSTAR COLLEGE PLAYERS
1. MEMPHIS - 25% - OK $5.00 FOR ANYONE WHO CAN NAME ANY PLAYER ON THE MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES. ACTUALLY KNOWING THAT EVERYONE READING THIS MAY BE A FRIEND OF MERRILL’S - I’LL CHANGE THAT TO $5.00 IF YOU CAN NAME THE STATE THAT MEMPHIS RESIDES IN
2. BOSTON - 19.9% - MAJOR SPORTS CITY, GREAT NBA TRADITION. SUPERSTAR IN PAUL PIERCE WAITING TO PLAY, AL JEFFERSON IS BECOMING A FACTOR. GREAT YOUNG ROLE PLAYERS
3. MILWAUKEE - 15.6% - NICE BEER, LOUSY SPORTS CITY. THE BREWERS ARE A BASEBALL BLACK HOLE. THE BUCKS ARE A TYPICAL MIDWEST CITY NOT KNOWN AS CHICAGO. LITTLE INTEREST ACROSS THE COUNTRY
4. PHOENIX - 11.9% - NOW HERE IS A POSSIBILITY. THE HAWKS TRADED THIS PICK A LONG TIME AGO. THIS TEAM IS ONE THAT COULD ALLOW A DURANT OR ODEN TO SHINE. IT IS A SMALL CITY AND IT IS IN THE WESTERN CONFERENCE WHICH RIGHT NOW DOMINATES THE EAST BUT IF YOU WANT TO ARGUE THAT YOU WANT TO MAKE THE SUNS A POWER THEN I COULD UNDERSTAND. NOT AS GOOD A FIT AS BOSTON BUT IT WOULD WORK
5. SEATTLE - 8.8% - WHERE IS SEATTLE? THIS IS NOT WHERE YOU WANT A MAJOR TALENT. PUT ONE OF THE TWO TOP PLAYERS HERE AND YOU WILL SEE YOUR RATING……..PROBABLY DECLINE. ITS ALL ABOUT MARKETING AND SEATTLE IS A JOKE OF A LOCATION. THE ONLY CITY THAT COMPARES TO IT IN THE NBA IS ……
6. PORTLAND - 5.3% - JUST READ MY SEATTLE DESCRIPTION AND PUT PORTLAND IN ITS PLACE. BOTH ARE A JOKE. THE NBA IS NOT THE NFL, A SPORTS FORCE WHO CAN PLACE MAJOR TALENT IN MEDIOCRE CITIES (PEYTON MANNING IN INDY AS AN EXAMPLE). TELL ME, WOULD YOU PLAN A SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN JUNE TO WATCH THE PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS - MILWAUKEE BUCKS FINALS? DID NOT THINK SO BUT LAKER’S-CELTICS OR BULLS YOU MAY BE MORE INTRIGUED
7. MINNESOTA - 5.3% - KEVIN GARNET- CLEARLY A SUPERSTAR, WHO WANTS OUT OF MINNESOTA. WELCOME TO HOCKEY LAND. FOR ALL OF THE REASONS LISTED ABOVE YOU WANT OUT OF MINNESOTA. AS YOU WOULD NOT WANT THESE PLAYERS IN
8. CHARLOTTE - 2.7%
9. CHICAGO - 1.9% (YOU WOULD LOVE CHICAGO BUT CAN YOU REALLY FIX THE LOTTERY FOR A TEAM THAT HAS LESS THAN A 2% CHANCE OF GETTING THE PICK)
10. SACRAMENTO - 1.8%
11. ATLANTA - 0.8%
IS EVERYONE SEEING A PATTERN HERE! THE NBA HAS SOME REALLY BAD CITIES. SENDING ODEN OR DURANT TO BOSTON MAKES SENSE
A. MAJOR CITY - MAJOR TV MARKET
B. TRADITIONAL NBA CITY
C. GOOD YOUNG TEAM WITH AN ESTABLISHED SUPERSTAR
D. EASTERN CITY (THE EAST SUCKS COMPARED TO THE WEST)
IF YOU WERE DAVID STERNS AND YOU COULD “WEIGH DOWN” A FEW PING PONG BALLS TO HELP YOUR SPIRALING LEAGUE REBOUND UP WOULDN’T YOU DO IT?
THE NBA WAS A MARKETING FACTOR FROM 1981 (THE ENTRY OF BIRD-MAGIC OR CELTS-LAKER’S) THROUGH THE MICHAEL JORDAN ERA WHO HAPPENED TO PLAY IN CHICAGO
MAJOR CITIES - BOSTON, NEW YORK, CHICAGO, LOS ANGLES, PHILADELPHIA. IF THESE CITIES SUCK THEN YOUR LEAGUE SUCKS. IF THESE CITIES ARE FIGHTING FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP THEN INTEREST IS HIGH. MIX IN THE PHOENIX, DALLAS (SORRY MERRILL), UTAH, ECT AND YOU CAN MAKE IT WORK. CURRENTLY THE TOP MARKETS HAVE DECENT TEAMS - LA OR CHICAGO AND CRAPPY TEAMS - BOSTON, NEW YORK, PHILLY.
THE NAME OF THE GAME IS RATINGS AND ADVERTISING AND THE UPCOMING FINALS OF SAY PHOENIX VERSUS DETROIT ARE NOT GOING TO KEEP MANY PEOPLE INTERESTED FOR MORE THAN 5 SECONDS
ODEN TO BOSTON #1
DURANT TO PHOENIX #2
SEE ALL OF THE APOLOGIES MAY 23RD (LOTTERY SELECTION IS MAY 22ND)
Merrill Dubrow says:
Rick,
I wish you were right. Over the years we have had so many debates, heating discussions and rarely have I wanted you to be right until this time. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.
The NBA delivered envelopes to the podium given them EVERY opportunity to manipulate the “ping pong” balls in the back. Few people would have known. This secret could have been as great as “What happened to Jimmy Hoffa”. It wasn’t meant to be.
The NBA has their integrity in tact. In the long run it hurts the league because the Boston Celtics road to recovery is much longer with the 5th pick. The top two picks went to weak TV markets and 2nd tier cities.
What happened last night did nothing to help the NBA.
For the record - you were wrong, incorrect, you made a mistake. Most of our discussions end up without a clear winner - this isn’t the case.
Look forward to our next debate which will probably be tomorrow am.
Merrill
Daniel says:
I have to say, that I could not agree with you in 100% regarding Fact or Fiction: As long as the Boston Celtics finish in the NBA lottery they will have the number one pick in the upcoming draft, but it’s just my opinion, which could be wrong