Cheerleaders, Laker Love Would Rile Reds Ghost Scott Soshnick
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Greetings from inside the visitors locker room at TD Banknorth Garden, home of Boston’s professional basketball team, the most successful franchise in NBA history.
“Everything is cool,” says Lamar Odom. “We’ve been shown nothing but love.”
Love? For the Lakers? In this town? It’s a good thing Celtics legend Red Auerbach, whose signature is inscribed on the parquet floor, isn’t here to see this.
Even with a two-game advantage Auerbach would be irate if he knew Bostonians were giving aid and comfort food to the enemy. Just the other day Bryant ordered a piece of plain apple pie, and room service delivered a la mode. No charge, no less.
“I didn’t even ask for the ice cream but they hooked me up,” Bryant said. “I’ve heard horror stories from the past. It’s not like that. There’s a healthy competition, but it’s not like `I hate your guts.”’
This is Boston’s first playoff run without Auerbach, the franchise patriarch who died in 2006 at age 89.
Everyone associated with the Celtics still talks reverently about the man NBA Commissioner David Stern called “the father of us all.”
It starts with team captain Paul Pierce, who credited Auerbach’s ghost with guiding a crucial free-throw through the net during Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final. Pierce then talked about a guardian angel after a knee injury in the June 5 opener.
The Celtics coach, Doc Rivers, talks about Auerbach’s footprint. The owners, many of whom grew up idolizing the Celtics, were so fond of Auerbach they told him they wanted him around as much as possible. They gave him an office, hoping that know-how and how-to would somehow rub off.
