Though the Boston Celtics may not have had too much of a role in the ESPN Michael Jordan documentary “The Last Dance”, it’s understandable why they left the first game of the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls season the series revolves around.
They lost to Boston, 92-85.
The Celtics, led by new head coach and team president Rick Pitino, pulled off an improbable victory over a Bulls team embarking on one last shot at a ring for Jordan and Chicago under head coach Phil Jackson.
While Boston fell behind by as much as 20 points early, a 31-point, 8-rebound, 5-steal game from Antoine Walker stole the contest from a Scottie Pippen-less Bulls, to Jordan’s great consternation.
Speaking with another former Celtic in one Brian Scalabrine — now working as an analyst for NBC Sports Boston — Walker recently shared his view on that unheralded win.
“We know [the game] was going to be special,” began Employee No. 8, as Walker was sometimes called. “I mean one obviously is coach [Pitino] coming in.”
“It was so much excitement about him taking over being the coach. Also his excitement about me, having my teammates on the team with me. A couple of them on the team with Ron [Mercer] and Walt [McCarty],” added Walker.
The team was actually loaded with Kentucky players — Pitino’s last stop before joining Boston that summer — and also featured forward Reggie Hanson.
All of whom had played for their coach at that school, as well as with the Celtics.
Rick Pitino recalls his win over '98 Bulls in first game with Celtics https://t.co/U97xmJza8p via @thecelticswire
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) May 10, 2020
Walker, a native of Chicago, was also incredibly excited to face the reigning NBA champs on national television.
“I think that’s what that was the icing on the cake,” he explained,
“It being on national TV, but for me being a childhood Bulls fan and going against the Bulls. Obviously, I got over the shock after my first year of playing against them, but I was excited because I felt like we had a better team.”
We were more equipped to have a good season, so I was really excited about the opportunity of playing against them and being able to compete,” he added.
Evidently, there was some grumbling from some corners of the team in the lead-up to the game, with veterans complaining that Pitino’s preferred style of play — the full court press — was more a collegiate style with little proven success at the next level.
They may have also complained because it took a lot of energy.
Kevin McHale tells his version of 1988 Celtics-Pistons series ending https://t.co/DPFLwj82W1 via @thecelticswire
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) May 10, 2020
“Camp was really, really hard, because it was something that most pros were not used to,” offered Walker. “I was used to it, and I was only one year removed, [so] I kind of knew what to expect.”
“The extra running, the demand on the defensive end was extreme. So it was a very tough camp and coach was more … serious about getting in shape, and being able to be able to play the style, if you choose to do that in the pressure style. And we did that early on.”
Jordan and Walker weren’t strangers when that Game 1 of the season came around, having crossed paths on at least a few other occasions.
In fact, it wasn’t even the first season opener Walker and Jordan would face off against each other.
Scottie Pippen was almost traded to the Boston Celtics in 1997 https://t.co/KlhPR3zIuT via @thecelticswire
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) May 4, 2020
“The first time I met him was in [1996],” said the former Wildcat. “Right before the first day I actually met him and had a conversation with him was in 96. We actually played the first game of the season in 96, as well.”
“And that was my first time having the opportunity to meet him and talk to him … but my relationship grew over the over the next five years. And obviously in the fifth year when he decided to come back out of retirement, I got an opportunity to really, really get to know him and work out with him and become a really good friend of his.”
The win, however, nearly put a damper on that budding friendship, with Walker’s trademark wiggle celebration enraging His Airness, as Pitino himself would later relate.
The rivalry that wasn't: Boston's Len Bias vs. Michael Jordan https://t.co/tDxfY8rhpJ via @thecelticswire
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) May 11, 2020
“We wanted to just try to embrace the moment,” noted Walker.
“We knew we could kick off the confidence booster this would give us, the fans were excited about the new team, the new direction that the organization was going. So it was one of those moments that we wanted to win this game.”
“This was gonna set the tone for our season,” he added.
Unfortunately for us all, it did not.
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