That 86 Celtics team was so fun to watch and Walton added to the lively personalities already present. One story I heard or read about was Ainge , late in the season , in the last game , started driving the ball to the basket and drawing fouls. Ainge was a great foul shooter and actually had a slightly higher FT average than Bird. But Ainge had not met the minimum number of FT attempted to qualify as the best FT shooter for the season, but he got within 3 or 4 attempts before coach KC Jones pulled him from the game. I had heard Ainge was going to get to the last FT needed and then was going to ask Bird how much of the check Bird was willing to split with him to have him ( Ainge) miss the freethrows !!! Several Celtics got wind of what Ainge was doing and were telling the coach to pull Ainge out so that Bird would win the award for the best FT% for the season and the coach did just that = hilarious stuff from that team.
I do ! Dr j hit a game winning jumper after LARRY bird missed those two free throws, in the SPECTRUM! I was 13 at the time! LIFELONG DIEHARD LAKERS FAN! OUR DOMINANCE & THE CELTICS DOMINANCE IN THE 80S IS A HUGE PART OF MY YOUTH!
That's ignorant to say, no one really knows how good he would have been in the NBA, not every number 1 pick has turned out to be a great player, example Sam Bowie, Pervis Ellison and a few others, so it's pure speculation to whether he would have been great or not, who knows, let the man RIP.
Bill walton tells some of the best stories ever 😆 🤣 if I could pick one team in the history of the NBA as the best team it would be that 86 celtics team...the only team in my humble opinion that would of had a legitimate chance against them would of been the 67 sixers but without a doubt the best team in celtics history and I say that respectfully considering how good some of bill Russell celtics were
I have to agree. I remember being at a preseason game, and they looked so confident and intense I couldn't believe it. The season hadn't started and I was telling everyone they were gonna win it all.
@@chikkipop no doubt bird was at his peak that year and the addition of walton took this team to new heights...67 sixers had a great front line lead by the unstoppable wilt Chamberlain that's the only team I think would give them a run for there 💰
Mike Gillins The 85-86 Celtics is the greatest team I have ever seen till this day..... But with all due respect, I can't FORGET ABOUT a gentleman named. Mr. Bill Russell... I am not sure which of the 11 title.winning teams should be represented as the de facto BEST but I just can't put ANY TEAM IN HISTORY over which ever is the best Russell led Title winning team of them all... I HAVE so much respect for Mr. Russell and what he accomplished!
@Brandon Martin I respect your opinion on that however Kc Jones is the first person to make that statement about 86 celtics and that's telling considering he played on most of those great teams during the late fifties and sixties...for the record the 64-65 celtics is considered the best by most historians of the bill Russell teams and was the same year hondo stole the ball...the front court of bird, McHale, parrish and Walton coming off bench would of been to much for even the great bill Russell to handle!!!
@@mikegillins4992 Some years ago, I found a video with Mr. Heinsohn explaining briefly why he believed The Celtic's teams he played on would have defeated the 85-86 Celtics.... I tried to find it this morning but couldn't. What he said was so simple, I remember thinking that I had never thought about anything like that before; But over time I realize in Some Brevity is DEPTHS that are found in oceans....From what I remember he said something to the effect the 85-86 Celtics "didn't shoot enough shots to beat us" I thought about that for months and I realized what that meant..... THEY WOULD RUN THE 85-86 CELTICS INTO THE GROUND....SIMILIAR TO WHAT THE 86-87 LAKERS DID TO THE 86-87 Celtics in the Finals. (Albeit a very beat up team).... Going back to the 85-86 Rockets team they played.... The two games they won if I remember right when Robert Reid and Lewis Lloyd and Allen Leavell pushed the tempo themselves to score or had the Twin Towers run the court with them they won, but when they slowed the game down... They fell right into the Hands of the Bird's Celtics. Final thing about the greatest Frontcourt I have ever seen..... Stay with me here... I wasn't doing some research in Basketball reference and I stumbled across a game that did NOT APPEAR REAL... The stat lines WERE SEEMINGLY MYTHICAL...In a triple overtime game. The Lakers had defeated the Warriors....Mr. Elgin Baylor had 63 POINTS, 31 REBOUNDS, AND 7 ASSISTS!! MR. WEST HAD A TRIPLE DOUBLE I CAn't remember the exact figures..... And Mr. Chamberlain's NUMBERS...78 POINTS AND 43 REBOUNDS!!! I meditated on this game for about a.week to try and understand what my EYES had saw..... And I came to a conclusion The generation that had to compete against Mr. Chamberlain at times competed against a MAN THAT AT TIMES WAS LIKE PLAYING AGAINST 5 PLAYERS IN ONE PERSON!!! Meaning That there were LEVELS OF GREATNESS THAT some of the LEGENDS LIKE MR. BAYLOR OR MR. RUSSELL, OR MR. ROBERTSON OR MR. PETIT HAD TO REACH to DEFEAT this GOLIATH that future generations simply have never witnessed and would not believe even if told to THEM..... As the underappreciated and underrated Mr. Thomas "Satch" Sanders would say about. Mr. Russell " Russ, wouldn't let us lose." In the history of North American Team sports if there was one Gentleman that could lead his team to victory over the 85-86 CELTICS ..... It Would be Mr. William Felton Russell....He was MUCH GREATER than I think we have been able to truly COMPREHEND.....That MIND of his was the key.... I remember reading something he said about himself that gave a clue to the EINSTEINAN realm he was flowing in...." The greatest part of my game is INVISIBLE" I said wait a minute, this guy has tapped into some heavy realms of UNDERSTANDING when I read that. This Guy would be the ULTIMATE PROBLEM of every generation of bballers BEFORE him or AFTER him to SOLVE AND DEFEAT.......
This must be the play from that Atlanta game Walton was talking about. The camera doesn't catch Rollins throwing the ball at Ainge, but you hear the commentator, Mike Gorman, say "uh oh" as if a fight is about to break out and then we see Ainge hit the three-pointer. th-cam.com/video/k_eN0xPjzfY/w-d-xo.html
Thank you for the link. Your right, they don't show Rollins throwing the ball, but all of the players appear to be just standing still wherever they were and you see Ainge shoot it.
Loved this one. Bill Walton was so good at telling stories. The world really lost out when he passed away. Kudos to you Bill, you are highly missed.
One of the best passers ever on the rebound to the outlet.....never forgot those UCLA playoff games...
That 86 Celtics team was so fun to watch and Walton added to the lively personalities already present. One story I heard or read about was Ainge , late in the season , in the last game , started driving the ball to the basket and drawing fouls. Ainge was a great foul shooter and actually had a slightly higher FT average than Bird. But Ainge had not met the minimum number of FT attempted to qualify as the best FT shooter for the season, but he got within 3 or 4 attempts before coach KC Jones pulled him from the game. I had heard Ainge was going to get to the last FT needed and then was going to ask Bird how much of the check Bird was willing to split with him to have him ( Ainge) miss the freethrows !!! Several Celtics got wind of what Ainge was doing and were telling the coach to pull Ainge out so that Bird would win the award for the best FT% for the season and the coach did just that = hilarious stuff from that team.
Danny should have zipped it! 🤐
Bill is a born storyteller
and good liar too :)
The storytelling came later in his life long after his playing days ended.
I do ! Dr j hit a game winning jumper after LARRY bird missed those two free throws, in the SPECTRUM! I was 13 at the time! LIFELONG DIEHARD LAKERS FAN! OUR DOMINANCE & THE CELTICS DOMINANCE IN THE 80S IS A HUGE PART OF MY YOUTH!
If bias survived then I think a healthy Celtic team repeats in 1987 ....2 great teams . I got to see gm 1 of 1984 NBA finals
Can u imagine bias on a healthy 87 Celtic team? 70 wins
His unfortunate passing really change the history of Celtic dominance.
And a few more titles in the coming years.
That's ignorant to say, no one really knows how good he would have been in the NBA, not every number 1 pick has turned out to be a great player, example Sam Bowie, Pervis Ellison and a few others, so it's pure speculation to whether he would have been great or not, who knows, let the man RIP.
Also I mean no disrespect when I say this but, he killed himself doing drugs, so he has only himself to blame and I'm sorry to say that.
So that’s where Ainge got that idea from.
The time Ainge took the ball out and zinged it at Mario Elies head 🤣😂
Bill walton tells some of the best stories ever 😆 🤣 if I could pick one team in the history of the NBA as the best team it would be that 86 celtics team...the only team in my humble opinion that would of had a legitimate chance against them would of been the 67 sixers but without a doubt the best team in celtics history and I say that respectfully considering how good some of bill Russell celtics were
I have to agree. I remember being at a preseason game, and they looked so confident and intense I couldn't believe it. The season hadn't started and I was telling everyone they were gonna win it all.
@@chikkipop no doubt bird was at his peak that year and the addition of walton took this team to new heights...67 sixers had a great front line lead by the unstoppable wilt Chamberlain that's the only team I think would give them a run for there 💰
Mike Gillins The 85-86 Celtics is the greatest team I have ever seen till this day..... But with all due respect, I can't FORGET ABOUT a gentleman named. Mr. Bill Russell... I am not sure which of the 11 title.winning teams should be represented as the de facto BEST but I just can't put ANY TEAM IN HISTORY over which ever is the best Russell led Title winning team of them all... I HAVE so much respect for Mr. Russell and what he accomplished!
@Brandon Martin I respect your opinion on that however Kc Jones is the first person to make that statement about 86 celtics and that's telling considering he played on most of those great teams during the late fifties and sixties...for the record the 64-65 celtics is considered the best by most historians of the bill Russell teams and was the same year hondo stole the ball...the front court of bird, McHale, parrish and Walton coming off bench would of been to much for even the great bill Russell to handle!!!
@@mikegillins4992 Some years ago, I found a video with Mr. Heinsohn explaining briefly why he believed The Celtic's teams he played on would have defeated the 85-86 Celtics.... I tried to find it this morning but couldn't. What he said was so simple, I remember thinking that I had never thought about anything like that before; But over time I realize in Some Brevity is DEPTHS that are found in oceans....From what I remember he said something to the effect the 85-86 Celtics "didn't shoot enough shots to beat us" I thought about that for months and I realized what that meant..... THEY WOULD RUN THE 85-86 CELTICS INTO THE GROUND....SIMILIAR TO WHAT THE 86-87 LAKERS DID TO THE 86-87 Celtics in the Finals. (Albeit a very beat up team).... Going back to the 85-86 Rockets team they played.... The two games they won if I remember right when Robert Reid and Lewis Lloyd and Allen Leavell pushed the tempo themselves to score or had the Twin Towers run the court with them they won, but when they slowed the game down... They fell right into the Hands of the Bird's Celtics. Final thing about the greatest Frontcourt I have ever seen..... Stay with me here... I wasn't doing some research in Basketball reference and I stumbled across a game that did NOT APPEAR REAL... The stat lines WERE SEEMINGLY MYTHICAL...In a triple overtime game. The Lakers had defeated the Warriors....Mr. Elgin Baylor had 63 POINTS, 31 REBOUNDS, AND 7 ASSISTS!! MR. WEST HAD A TRIPLE DOUBLE I CAn't remember the exact figures..... And Mr. Chamberlain's NUMBERS...78 POINTS AND 43 REBOUNDS!!! I meditated on this game for about a.week to try and understand what my EYES had saw..... And I came to a conclusion The generation that had to compete against Mr. Chamberlain at times competed against a MAN THAT AT TIMES WAS LIKE PLAYING AGAINST 5 PLAYERS IN ONE PERSON!!! Meaning That there were LEVELS OF GREATNESS THAT some of the LEGENDS LIKE MR. BAYLOR OR MR. RUSSELL, OR MR. ROBERTSON OR MR. PETIT HAD TO REACH to DEFEAT this GOLIATH that future generations simply have never witnessed and would not believe even if told to THEM..... As the underappreciated and underrated Mr. Thomas "Satch" Sanders would say about. Mr. Russell " Russ, wouldn't let us lose." In the history of North American Team sports if there was one Gentleman that could lead his team to victory over the 85-86 CELTICS ..... It Would be Mr. William Felton Russell....He was MUCH GREATER than I think we have been able to truly COMPREHEND.....That MIND of his was the key.... I remember reading something he said about himself that gave a clue to the EINSTEINAN realm he was flowing in...." The greatest part of my game is INVISIBLE" I said wait a minute, this guy has tapped into some heavy realms of UNDERSTANDING when I read that. This Guy would be the ULTIMATE PROBLEM of every generation of bballers BEFORE him or AFTER him to SOLVE AND DEFEAT.......
Love Bill! great story
Danny Ainge was an excellent baller
This must be the play from that Atlanta game Walton was talking about. The camera doesn't catch Rollins throwing the ball at Ainge, but you hear the commentator, Mike Gorman, say "uh oh" as if a fight is about to break out and then we see Ainge hit the three-pointer. th-cam.com/video/k_eN0xPjzfY/w-d-xo.html
That’s exactly the one. And you can see Tree Rollins turn to the ref and complain as soon as Ainge’s shot goes in.
Thank you for the link. Your right, they don't show Rollins throwing the ball, but all of the players appear to be just standing still wherever they were and you see Ainge shoot it.
NEVER liked Ryan...He's way to arrogant