The Celtics are back and the bandwagon is SRO. They haven't won a game yet, but the addition of megastar Kevin Garnett put them back on MapQuest, back on "SportsCenter."
Garnett is a Celtic and No. 5 green jerseys are flying off the racks from coast to coast. Season tickets are hot. Hoop junkies are picking the Green to win 50 or 60 games and make a return to the conference finals.
There's a lot of effort to include Paul Pierce and the classy Ray Allen on the same platform with Garnett and that's why they were presented together at the tap-off press conference. The Celtics are stressing team harmony in this starlit, comeback campaign. They don't want any gold/silver/bronze levels for their three superstars.
It's a little forced. Pierce has certainly paid the dues, carrying this team for several seasons. Allen, meanwhile, is one of the great shooters in NBA history.
But Garnett is the guy who put the Celtics back in the game, locally and nationally. The Celtics already had Pierce and won only 24 games last season. They traded for Allen on draft night and were widely ripped for acquiring an aging star who just had ankle surgery. But when Danny Ainge closed the deal for Garnett, everything changed.
Garnett is legitimate NBA royalty. Try to imagine Ted Williams being traded to a contender for the final five years of his career and you pretty much have the picture. Garnett is a league MVP. He's a 10-time All-Star. He's one of five players in NBA history with 19,000 points, 10,000 rebounds, and 4,000 assists. The other four are Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, and Charles Barkley. Garnett has led the league in rebounding the last four seasons.
Here's another stat that's a little more alarming. Garnett is only 31, but he came into the league at 19 and has already played more NBA regular-season games than Larry Bird played in his entire career.
Early reviews on Garnett are spectacular. He looked good throwing out a first pitch at Fenway ("a sinker") and was on the sideline tossing footballs before the Patriots played the Bills at Gillette last Sunday. He could probably make a bid for president of Red Sox Nation if he cared to mount a last-minute, write-in campaign.
