You don’t trade away a Larry Bird. I’m sorry but that’s just
ludicrous. You don’t trade Larry Legend under any circumstances just like you
would never trade a Michael Jordan, a Tim Duncan or a Magic Johnson.
Danny Ainge’s statement that he would have traded Larry Bird
shows us why Red Auerbach was so much more successful over his career as
general manager of the Boston Celtics than Ainge has been. Teams that fall off
when their stars get old are teams run by executives that are devoid of vision.
A player’s career only lasts for so long. A superstar like
Jordan or Bird can probably carry a team for a little over ten years. During
that time you should be trying to bring in talent that will carry the team once
that superstar calls it quits.
Sure there are some superstars that you can trade but
players that consistently give you championships, don’t miss games, represent
your organization in an exemplary fashion and play their whole careers in your city
should have the complete loyalty of the organizations they play for. Besides,
winning games doesn’t just fall on the backs of the players; the organization
has to be dedicated to winning.
Management and the coaches have to show not only a desire to
fit talent around their star player when he is in his prime but to develop or
find talent they can transition to when their superstar starts to decline.
Ainge cited the long period of losing that came after Bird,
Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish retired but there are plenty of teams that have
been able to play at a high level even after the retirement of their stars. An
example would be how the Los Angeles Lakers survived after the sudden retirement
of Magic Johnson.
It’s been 20 years since Magic announced that he was
retiring from the NBA due to his contacting the HIV virus. You know how many
times the Los Angeles Lakers have missed the playoffs since then? Three times
and they have never missed the playoffs in back-to-back years.
That only happens when you have an organization that is not
satisfied with the status quo; that’s not satisfied with just making a strong
showing in the playoffs. Even after winning a championship, a team should not
rest on its laurels but should work to come back even better the next season.
You do have to give Ainge credit for bringing the big three
of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett together though. That group was
able to win a championship and made it to the NBA Finals in back-to-back
appearances. The problem is that all three were already pretty old by NBA
standards when they were brought together.
Which means that Ainge should have already been looking for
their replacements when he brought them in. Signing veterans like Jermaine
O’Neal, Rasheed Wallace and Shaquille O’Neal to play alongside an already aged
core shows that Ainge was more focused on the short term rather than the long
term health of the franchise. Signing those players also took roster spots and
minutes from younger players who the Celtics could have been grooming to take
over.
And now that the roster is depleted Ainge wants to trade the
big three. No member of Boston’s big three would ever be placed in the same air
as Bird, Magic or Jordan so I can’t say that trading either one of them to
improve the team would be a bad thing. It would have been nice if he would have
traded them when they had more value though. At this point in their careers he
won’t get anything for either one of them.
But of course Ainge is not going to be as forthcoming and
candid about his own failings as a general manager. It’s easy to look back in
hindsight and second guess a great like Red Auerbach after watching what
happened to the franchise when Bird retired. Too bad Ainge hasn’t shown the
foresight to make this team better in the future.
Roosevelt Hall is an NBA Blogger for The Sport Mentalist 2 and also writes for Shatter The Backboard. He can be contacted at RHall@shatterthebackboard.com. Follow him on Twitter @sportmentalist.
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