On this day: Infamous rant by Rick Pitino; Chris Babb Celtics debut
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 as well as 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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsji8FAnK8Q
It is also the date of former Celtic shooting guard Chris Babb 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 stat. This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook! [jwplayer YkxyD0n7-z6KDnl0B] [lawrence-related id=47184,47176,47142,47107] [listicle id=47180]
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