People forget, but the Boston Celtics in the early 1990s were a problem 😤 In the tired ole annals of Standard NBA History, the Celtics of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish just magically disappear after the 1988 Eastern Conference Finals when they lost to the Detroit Pistons. After all, the Celtics would never again reach the ECF, let alone the NBA Finals, with the Hall of Fame trio on their roster. And in 1989, Bird played just six miserable games as Boston went 42-40, their worst record since Larry Legend showed up in the fall of 1979. Having usurped Boston, Detroit would be the East’s dominant team until Chicago did to them what they had done to Boston.
As a kid born and raised in Indy, this piece brought back serious memories! Thank you.
I graduated from HS in 1991 & this year was the first time I really thought the Pacers would win a series. Sigh.
Here's a long ago poem about finding joy in basketball as a child. Sadly, it wasn't even a Pacer who provided that feeling.
https://whodeannypod.org/2016/04/05/world-b-free/