On this day: Infamous rant by Rick Pitino; Chris Babb debut; Fred Scolari born; John Richter passes
On this day in Boston Celtics history, one of the legendary (some would say infamous) postgame speeches was given by Celtic team president and head coach Rick Pitino.
Pitino, whose impatience with Boston’s roster was matched only by the fan base’s disdain for the moves he made to try to improve it, had something of a rough tenure as the head of the Celtics organization. He was also Boston’s head coach after being hired out of the University of Kentucky for both positions. After making a number of ill-advised trades in hopes of jump-starting the Celtics’ roster with little to show in the way of results, the situation came to a head after a loss to the Toronto Raptors on this date in 2000.
Despite 27 points from Antoine Walker and 22 from Paul Pierce, the team lost 96-94, falling to 23-34 on the season.
After the loss, Pitino addressed the media, his impatience boiling over in his postgame diatribe, now the stuff of legends. “Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans,” he began.
“Kevin McHale is not walking through that door, and Robert Parish is not walking through that door. And if you expect them to walk through that door, they’re going to be gray and old … I wish we had $90 million under the salary cap. I wish we could buy the world. We can’t; the only thing we can do is work hard, and all the negativity that’s in this town sucks. I’ve been around when Jim Rice was booed.”
“I’ve been around when Yastrzemski was booed, and it stinks,” he added. “It makes the greatest town, greatest city in the world, lousy.”
Pitino quit both roles within 10 months of that speech.
It is also the date of former Celtic shooting guard Chris Babb’s debut in 2014.
His inaugural contest in the league came in a 102-97 loss to the Indiana Pacers, and Babb had an outing that reflected this outcome.
In 1:38 of floor time, the Iowa State product did not register a countable statistic.
Happy birthday in heaven Fred Scolari. Blind in one eye. Deaf in one ear. Nicknamed Fat Freddie. Played in the league for 10 years. #Celtics pic.twitter.com/lvCRqe76c9
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) March 1, 2021
Today is also the birthday of former Celtics point guard Frank Scolari, who came into the world this day in 1922 in San Francisco, California.
A product of the San Francisco, Scolari would play for the (now defunct) Washington Capitals, (then) Syracuse Nationals (now, Philadelphia 76ers), Baltimore Bullets (also defunct), and the (then) Fort Wayne (now, Detroit) Pistons. He was dealt to Boston for Bob Harris in the second round of the 1993 Major League Baseball Draft. 1954.
Scolari played in 59 games for the Celtics before he retired, over which he averaged 3.2 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game.
Finally, it is also the date of former Boston big man John Richter’s passing in 1983 at the age of just 45 years old. The Philadelphia native played collegiately at NC State and was picked up with the eighth overall pick of the 1959 NBA draft.
He would play only one season in the league before retiring a champion with the Celtics, recording 4.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game backing up Hall of Fame Celtics center Bill Russell — rest in peace.
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