You would never have predicted the rest of former Boston Celtics head coach and team president Rick Pitino’s tenure went based on the results of Game 1 of the Pitino era.
Replacing Celtics legend Red Auerbach was a tall order — really, the tallest — and history testifies to how the story ended for the New Yorker’s foray into Boston’s front office turned out.
But with the ESPN Michael Jordan documentary “The Last Dance” bringing all manner of old controversies back to life, Game 1 of the Chicago Bulls season depicted in the documentary series — and Pitino’s oft-oathed time at the helm of the Celtics — has come back to the fore.
On this day: Pitino hired; DJ retired; 1968 expansion draft takes 3 Cs https://t.co/SPsx7XBxsA via @thecelticswire
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) May 6, 2020
It was the 1997-98 Celtics that were to be the presumptive punching bag to Jordan’s Bulls that season, but down Scottie Pippen, Jordan and the Bulls started the season with a 0-1 record with an outstanding performance by Boston.
Early on, the Celtics fell into a deep hole, down as much as 20 points in the first quarter; “our expectations weren’t great, obviously, coming off a 15-win season [in 1996-97],” noted Pitino (via the Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett).
But forward Antoine Walker would go off for 31 points, stealing the game from Chicago and infuriating Jordan with his trademark shimmy.
“I’ll never forget, as long as I live, we were going back to the locker room, and Michael Jordan is yelling at Antoine … And I said, ‘ … what happened there?’ Then the assistant coaches explained to me that apparently Antoine was shimmying … Michael started screaming, ‘Antoine, you won’t be … dancing when you come to Chicago.'”
“He kept saying it, and I said, ‘Oh, [expletive],'” laughed the former Celtics head honcho.
.@RealPitino: "There's two guys you never wanted to piss off: Bird and MJ…. because it would always come back to haunt you. When Antoine got him mad in that first game, I'm saying, 'Oh, (expletive)' … Of course, Antoine said, 'Oh, (expletive) him, we won the game.'" https://t.co/8w9rMsaXsM
— Steve Bulpett (@SteveBHoop) May 8, 2020
True to his word, Jordan’s Bulls beat the pants off the Celtics in their later meetings.
But, for just a moment, the hope train the Celtics had had a habit of missing with gusto since the retirement of Larry Bird seemed to be pulling into the station — only for reality to smack the team in the face, and encourage the former Kentucky head coach to make poor, win-now decisions.
To his credit, Pitino has owned up to that era’s mistakes, acknowledging he abused his position to alleviate the stress of high expectations.
“If I could have just stuck to coaching and not paid attention to anything else, it would have worked out. But I didn’t, and that’s my fault. I have nothing but good feelings for the Celtics and Boston. I’m the first one to admit that I did not do a good job.”
“Anything that didn’t happen the right way was my fault, and I take ownership for that,” he added.
Kevin McHale tells his version of 1988 Celtics-Pistons series ending https://t.co/DPFLwj82W1 via @thecelticswire
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) May 10, 2020
It’s unlikely we’ll ever see a reconciliation between Pitino and the Celtics fanbase, who still rightfully blame him for turning a rough patch into a multi-decade title drought — but it’s still satisfying on some level to hear his contrition.
It won’t make up for the wilderness era between banners 16 and 17, but as can happen when we dredge up the past, old scores can find a degree of reconciliation even if they won’t be resolved in whole, and other debates long extinguished flare back to life.
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