Chris Webber: "I'll Be Back In 2 Weeks" ................ UPDATE: Lakers looking to add Webber....

Originally Posted by NobleKane

Originally Posted by the PGA tour

i think he'd fit in pretty well in the celtics offense. can he commit to playind defense? no, but id still take him
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plus he has the same last name as me, and it would be cool to get his jersey.
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if the celtics signed webber, that would be the pnly way i would turnaround and cheer for um.

but it wont happen because chris webber is a black history buff and alot of black athletes do not want to play for boston...
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you officially know nothing about the celtics.
 
Originally Posted by the PGA tour

Originally Posted by NobleKane

Originally Posted by the PGA tour

i think he'd fit in pretty well in the celtics offense. can he commit to playind defense? no, but id still take him
laugh.gif
plus he has the same last name as me, and it would be cool to get his jersey.
laugh.gif
Click to expand...
if the celtics signed webber, that would be the pnly way i would turnaround and cheer for um.

but it wont happen because chris webber is a black history buff and alot of black athletes do not want to play for boston...
Click to expand...

you officially know nothing about the celtics.
Click to expand...
um yes....yes i do. if you werent closed shut in your comfortable box, you would too.
 
The truth isn't always black and white for Celtics

By J.A. Adande

ESPN.com

(Archive)

Updated: December 19, 2007

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Now that the Boston Celtics matter again for the first time since Starter jackets were cool, we need to clear up the old misconception that rooting for them towin the championship would be like rooting for Vanilla Ice to win a Grammy.





The Celtics' acquisition of Kevin Garnett and their early-season success have stirred up some conflicted feelings in the black community. I've seen itin e-mail chains, heard it in phone calls. African-Americans would like to root for these Celtics, but…





[+] EnlargeNBA Photos/NBAE/Getty Images



In the mid-1980s, many black fans couldn't identify with the Celtics.

Let's just say it: To fans who came of age during the NBA's glory days of the 1980s, the Celtics have long been considered a "white team."They were Larry Bird's team when Magic Johnson and the Lakers were the other choice. The Celtics were the squad that had Danny Ainge, Kevin McHale, JerrySichting, Greg Kite, Bill Walton, Scott Wedman and Rick Carlisle on the roster long after the league had taken on a darker complexion. It didn't help thatthey were representing Boston, which had a long-standing reputation -- fueled in part by stories Bill Russell told -- of being an unfriendly location forAfrican-Americans.



Add it all up and you had no love for the Celtics.



When Spike Lee took a guest editor role at Spin magazine in 1990, he ran a photo essay on the meaning attached to different sports apparel. Under a picture ofa black man wearing Celtics gear it said: "This man is an Uncle Tom."



In the 1992 Public Enemy song "Air Hoodlum," Chuck D rapped about a basketball phenom who was "so quick at 6-foot-6, down to be picked by anyonebut the Celtics."



That was the prevailing attitude. And it was rooted in ignorance.



Part of that's because, prior to the 50th anniversary season of 1996-97, the NBA never did much to promote its history. While everyone knew the role theDodgers played in integrating baseball, most people didn't realize the Celtics were the Dodgers of basketball, the Texas Western of pro hoops.





Greg Foster/NBAE/Getty Images



Russell and Auerbach were partners in creating the Celtics' dynasty of the 1950s and '60s.

The Celtics were the first NBA franchise to draft an African-American player -- Chuck Cooper in 1950. They became the first NBA team to send an all-blackstarting lineup onto the floor. The man responsible was the same guy who put together the Celtics teams of the 1980s: Red Auerbach.



"I wasn't even aware of it," Auerbach once said about his historical lineup breakthrough in 1964. "They brought it to my attention later on.All we were trying to do here, all the time, is play the guys that, in our opinion, whether I'm coaching or someone else is coaching, is going to win theballgame. That's all."



The Celtics made Russell the league's first black head coach. To date, only four black coaches have won a championship, and two of them were Celtics:Russell and K.C. Jones.



In college I had an African-American studies professor who used to check out the pickup basketball games at the rec center after he finished his workouts.After watching my push-it-up-and-dish-it style he told me I'd be a good fit for the Boston Celtics. I felt insulted, as if he'd told me my singingstyle would make me suited for the Partridge Family. But to older heads, the Celtics were innovative racial groundbreakers and pioneers of the up-tempo game(in 1960 they averaged 124.5 points).



The Celtics didn't just plug their African-American players into the lineup haphazardly. As Nelson George detailed in the book "Elevating the Game:The History and Aesthetics of Black Men in Basketball," the Celtics utilized African-Americans in ways that defied the stereotype of black players asflashy, athletic scorers. Starting with Russell, the black Celtics players were renowned for their defense, the aspect of the game associated withdetermination and hard work. That even carried on into the 1980s, with Dennis Johnson's playing the role of perimeter defensive stopper on the Celtics'last two championship teams.



In the ultimate irony, the lineage of John Thompson's Georgetown Hoyas -- who emerged as Black America's team at the same time the Celtics were attheir palest -- could be traced back to Boston. Thompson learned his defense-first mind-set while playing for the Celtics in the 1960s.



One of the least-discussed "what-ifs" created by the death of Len Bias is how he would have changed the perception of the Celtics.



It's pretty much conceded that the Celtics would have at least one more championship banner if Bias had not overdosed on cocaine shortly after the Celticstook him with the second pick of the 1986 draft. But would his presence have altered the way we thought about those teams? Put Bias in the mix with DJ andRobert Parish, and the Celtics would have had three black players in their top rotation. And Bias' style, including his trademark reverse dunks, would havepulled in fans of all races. Yes, you would have seen green Celtics caps in the hood.



I'd like to think we've done some growing up as a culture since the 1980s, that the notion of racially polarizing teams like the Celtics and Hoyas hasgone the way of cold war Olympic showdowns between the United States and the Soviet Union.



Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls teams didn't split the country along racial lines; they brought fans together in appreciation of the greatest player ofhis time. For me, the greatest example of Jordan's transcendent power came the day after he dropped the double-nickel on the Knicks in the Garden. I had todo some paperwork in the accounting department, and when I handed in my forms to an older white woman, she asked, "Did you see that game last night?"



The league doesn't break down simply as black and white anymore. There are Chinese players, Spanish players, you name it. The past two MVPs were fromGermany and Canada.



And the Celtics have come full circle. Of the top teams in the league right now, the Celtics are the only one with an all-black starting five and a black headcoach.



Maybe the question shouldn't be whether it's OK for African-Americans to root for the Celtics. If you really think about it, the question is, how couldthey not?





J.A. Adande is the author of "The Best Los Angeles Sports Arguments." He joined ESPN.com as an NBA columnist in August 2007 after 10 years with theLos Angeles Times. Click here to e-mail J.A.
 
Nets don't really need him. Malik Allen basically does everything he can do but with a consistant J.

Once Nenad comes back, the big man rotation will be even deeper, so honestly, there is no real need fo rhim.

Kidd+Jefferson+VC= 1st round failures
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be careful what you wish for..


the c-webb curse could doom the lakers in the playoffs, just like it did with the pistons, kings, and bullets.


some players (karl malone, charles barkley, reggie miller, patrick ewing) are doomed to never win 'chips..
 
i used to like him alot when he was on the kings. size twelve is right...some people just aren't meant to win a chip.
 
Originally Posted by size twelve

be careful what you wish for..


the c-webb curse could doom the lakers in the playoffs, just like it did with the pistons, kings, and bullets.


some players (karl malone, charles barkley, reggie miller, patrick ewing) are doomed to never win 'chips..
Click to expand...

Co - Sign
 
CWebb is my guy...but he doesn't have much left. He'd be somewhat of an upgrade over Kwame Brown at times, but Kwame outdefends Webb's capabilitiesat this stage of his career.

Also -- that JA piece deserves a thread of its own...great read.
 
if the celtics signed webber, that would be the pnly way i would turnaround and cheer for um.
We dont want you!
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BTW, Boston is no more racist than anywere else. Live here first before you talk about it.

Back to the topic, Webber with the Pistons swings the momentum back to them easy. All he really has to do if play 15 minutes a game to be effective.
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If he signed with the Hornets, I might consider dropping out of school and moving to New Orleans as a season ticket holder.

Come to think of it, David West is kind of similar to Webber; he just doesn't quite possess the passing skills or athleticism that Webber had in his prime.
 
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