Boston Celtics (17x NBA champions)

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BostonGlobe

Trying to get past his past

Now that he's a Celtic, Giddens vows troubles are behind him

By Baxter Holmes

Globe Correspondent / July 9, 2008

J.R. Giddens used to get asked about things other than his dark past, like basketball.


When this was true, it was in the small suburban town of Yukon, Okla., where he was first embraced by a community that was wowed by his talent and potential. His family would host block parties and sleepovers, and on the basketball court townspeople saw glimpses of what Giddens told everyone he would become: a star.
And back then, his character was never in question like it is today, tomorrow, and forever.
He is in the NBA now, his destiny having been achieved since he told his fifth-grade AAU coach he would play in the NBA one day and even have his own shoe.

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BostonGlobe

Posey officially on market

Celtics improve offer with Maggette gone

JAMES POSEY: He's in it for the long term


By Marc J. Spears

Globe Staff / July 9, 2008

Celtics swingman James Posey now can sign a new contract at any time. Unfortunately for the NBA champion Celtics, they aren't the only title contender apparently interested in him.


After a moratorium period that began July 1, NBA free agents can sign as of today. The Celtics' free agents include Posey, guards Eddie House, Sam Cassell, and Tony Allen, forward-center P.J. Brown (who is expected to retire), and center Scot Pollard.
But the big question is whether Posey, a key reserve in Boston's run to the title, will be back.
While Posey's agent, Mark Bartelstein, wouldn't say which teams were interested in his client, he did say they were contenders. Among those also expected to be wooing the Cleveland native are the Cavaliers, Wizards, Hornets, Spurs, and Lakers.

 

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World Champion Perkins shares winning insight

BY Richard C. White Staff Writer

Fresh off his team?s ascent to the NBA mountaintop, Boston Celtics center Kendrick Perkins gave a lesson in what it takes to have the heart of a champion to a gym full of ecstatic Premier Basketball Camp participants Wednesday afternoon at Schimelpfenig Middle School.

Perkins? visit comes just weeks after the Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers to clinch the 2007-08 NBA title.

Perkins, who didn?t get any similar opportunities in his youth, jumped at the chance to share his time with inquisitive young minds.

?I love being around the kids. It?s fun and it makes your day go by faster,? he said. ?From where I?m from we didn?t have that, we didn?t have an NBA player come talk to us about life and sports, so it feels good to give back to the community.?

The 6-foot-10 Nederland, Texas native, who grew up in Beaumont, was drafted out of Ozen High School in 2003 and has been the starting center for the Celtics since 2006.

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Boston Globe

Atlantic just got tougher

Brand, O'Neal join division

By Marc J. Spears

Globe Staff / July 10, 2008

The Celtics won the Atlantic Division by 25 games last season. But with the addition of Elton Brand and Jermaine O'Neal to opposing Atlantic Division teams yesterday, the NBA champions probably won't have it so easy next season.


The Sixers signed two-time All-Star Elton Brand to a five-year deal reportedly worth $82 million yesterday. The Raptors also completed a trade for six-time All-Star Jermaine O'Neal and the draft rights to Nathan Jawai for guard T.J. Ford, center Rasho Nesterovic, forward Maceo Baston and the draft rights to Roy Hibbert. The Celtics, however, didn't make any moves during the first day of free agency.
"Our division has gotten stronger with the addition of Brand and O'Neal," Celtics general manager Danny Ainge wrote in a text message.
Wrote Celtics coach Doc Rivers in a text message: "Not just the Atlantic, the East in general is loading up. As I said last [season], the East was underrated and the best two records came out of the East. Now it's tougher."
Boston's free agents are forward James Posey, guards Eddie House, Sam Cassell and Tony Allen, forward-center P.J. Brown (who is expected to retire), and injured center Scot Pollard (rehabbing from ankle surgery). The Celtics had expressed strong interest in free agent forwards Corey Maggette and James Jones, but they are on their way to Golden State and Miami, respectively. The Celtics are trying to land a backup center and veteran point guard.
"Nothing going on," Ainge said.

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Link

Posey is pondering

Weighs ?great situations?

By Steve Bulpett
Friday, July 11, 2008 - Added 10h ago

Boston Herald Sports Reporter

Unless someone steps up with the magic numbers for James Posey, it appears the process to sign the free agent will drag out for a while.
The Celtics [team stats] are still very much interested in retaining the top reserve, but they may need to be concerned about another club offering the contract Posey is requesting, said to be at least four years at the mid-level exception.
According to his representative, Mark Bartelstein, the Celts will probably not have a chance to match the right offer.
?We?re not trying to be tough here or anything, but I just don?t think you can do that,? Bartelstein said. ?It?d be totally unfair for me to do that to the other teams that are involved in this. You can?t ask them to make an offer just so you can take it back to Boston and see if they?ll match it. I think that once you?re a free agent, you?re a free agent. You have to be fair to any team that?s willing to make you an honest offer.?
Bartelstein added that the Celtics still are in discussion on a deal, but he is now waiting for other teams to get their respective houses in proper order.

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Boston Globe

Celtics get their 'big'

O'Bryant signs 2-year, $3m deal

P. O'BRYANT Warrior flop

By Marc J. Spears

Globe Staff / July 12, 2008

The Celtics are hoping a more mature Patrick O'Bryant will reach his potential after failing to do so with Golden State.


The Celtics signed the seldom-used 7-foot, 250-pound center yesterday to a two-year, $3 million contract, according to an NBA source. O'Bryant is expected to back up Kendrick Perkins. O'Bryant, 22, was the ninth pick in the 2006 NBA draft, but rarely played during two seasons with the Warriors.
"I'm very thankful for the opportunity to come in the league and prove myself," said O'Bryant yesterday in a phone interview. "I didn't do a very good job the first two years. I need to prove I belong here and belong for a long time."
O'Bryant averaged 13.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks during his sophomore season at Bradley, then left school for the NBA. The Blaine, Minn., native averaged only 1.9 points and 1.3 rebounds in 16 games as a rookie in the 2006-07 season, although he averaged 12 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks in 25 games for Bakersfield in the National Basketball Development League.

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Ray stays in Posey?s court

By Steve Yingling
Sunday, July 13, 2008 - Added 7h ago




STATELINE, Nev. - Role players on championship teams don?t come cheaply these days.
But championships don?t come easily either, and that?s why Celtics [team stats] guard Ray Allen is very fond of unrestricted free agent James Posey.
?He brings experience, championship experience,? Allen said Friday at the American Century Championship, a celebrity golf tournament at Lake Tahoe. ?It?s hard to find a guy who is the sixth man, coming off the bench, that has two rings that doesn?t want to have to shoot the ball all of the time.?

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Link

Courtside View: For Pierce, there's peace

Celtics' captain still savoring championship afterglow

It might have been one of the most tension-packed days of the season, yet Paul Pierce seemed as care free as could be.
The scene was a Saturday afternoon in Waltham with a season's mortality staring the Celtics in the face. The previous night in Cleveland, the Celtics lost Game 6 on the road and Game 7 was due in less than 24 hours. Two weeks earlier, facing an unlikely Game 7 against the Hawks, Pierce was nowhere to be found after declaring media silence during a series that conjured many of the ghosts of his postseasons past.
But on this day, Pierce was smiling, relaxed, and seemingly already at peace with himself regardless of the outcome that next afternoon. He played one-on-one with Sam Cassell and Tony Allen, then laughed and joked with the media for nearly 20 minutes.
Pierce's validation came the next day when he scored 41 points in a performance for the ages in the deciding game of the conference semifinals. It was the temperament he maintained the rest of the playoffs as the Celtics beat the Pistons, then the Lakers, and he forever secured his place in the Boston and NBA upper crust with a 17th world championship and NBA Finals Most Valuable Player honors.

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Ainge: This title is for Boston players, coaches, fans

Celtic exec plans no major changes, although he looks at Darius Miles

By Kerry Eggers
The Portland Tribune, Jul 14, 2008

ELSA / GETTY IMAGES
Danny Ainge (right) celebrates with Boston coach Doc Rivers after the Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers for the NBA championship.

There will soon be some time to recharge the batteries, to relax and drink in just exactly what his Boston Celtics accomplished during the past season.
During the last week in July and the first two weeks in August, Danny Ainge will take some time off to visit with family in San Diego.
The entire Ainge clan ? wife Michelle, their six children and their six grandchildren ? will convene in Michelle?s hometown and just enjoy being together.
Not until then will the architect of the Celtics? recent NBA championship really be able to take a deep breath.
?It?s been busier than ever, with preparations for the draft and summer league,? says Ainge, the Eugene native and one-time Trail Blazer guard who reached the Holy Grail in his fifth season as Boston?s executive director of basketball operations/general manager. ?We just never stopped, and it?s still going.?

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Link

Posey seeking a four-year deal

Cavs best bet for possible move?

CELTICS NOTES

By Frank Dell-Apa the BOSTON GLOBE




James Posey, the Celtics? highest-priority unsigned veteran, is seeking a four-year contract, an NBA source said yesterday.

Posey, 31, is treating negotiations as if this could be his final contract and has been in talks with Detroit, the Lakers, New Orleans and Washington. No team has been willing to offer a deal beyond three years.

Guard Eddie House and Posey, who played key reserve roles in the Celtics? title run last season, returned to Boston for promotional appearances this week, both expressing interest in remaining with the Celtics. The interaction with fans has reinforced Posey?s intention to stay in Boston, but will not influence his decision, he said yesterday.

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Posey bolts Celts for Hornets? deal

Key backup gets 4 years, $25M

By Brett Martel THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


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NEW ORLEANS? James Posey has won NBA championships with two teams. The New Orleans Hornets hope to be his third.

Posey, a 6-foot-8 forward who last season helped the Boston Celtics win their first title since 1986, agreed yesterday to a four-year, $25 million contract with New Orleans, agent Mark Bartelstein said.

Posey also was part of the Miami Heat?s championship squad in 2005-06. His record of playing a prominent reserve role on title-winning squads made him a top free-agent target for the Hornets, who are coming off their best season in franchise history and looking to contend for their first championship.

The Celtics hoped to keep Posey, a 31-year-old veteran who has a reputation as a strong defender and who was periodically assigned to guard LeBron James and Kobe Bryant during the postseason.

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O'Bryant works out for first time as a Celtic

WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) ? All it took for Patrick O'Bryant to understand the significance of signing with the Boston Celtics was a look skyward at the team's training facility.
That's where the 17th NBA championship banner now hangs ? instead of the white light shining on a blank patch of wall that once motivated players during practice.
"There's a lot of tradition here and you see all the banners in the stands and you see the newest one and it says '08'. I know that we're out here to put another one next to it and I'm just out here to do that," O'Bryant said.
O'Bryant, 22, joined his new team for a workout Thursday after signing as a free agent a day earlier ? the same day free agent James Posey left Boston and signed a four-year, $25 million contract with the New Orleans Hornets.

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epsn.com

Report: Celtics agree to two-year deals with House, Allen

ESPN.com news services


Updated: July 21, 2008, 11:37 AM ET

Eddie House and Tony Allen reportedly won't be following James Posey out of Boston.
The Boston Herald reported Monday that House and Allen, two key bench pieces of the Celtics' championship team, agreed to two-year deals with Boston.
Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge wouldn't be specific on the financial terms of the deals, but a source told the Herald that both players would be paid over $2 million per season.
Last week, the 31-year-old Posey left the Celtics to sign a four-year, $25 million contract with the New Orleans Hornets.

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Champions will prepare in Newport

By Josh Krueger
Daily News staff



NEWPORT ? First Rome, then London and now Newport.

Before winning banner No. 17 in June, the Boston Celtics went overseas for training camp as part of the NBA Europe Live tour, making stops in Italy and England and playing in two exhibition games. The Celtics again will get away from Boston for training camp leading into the 2008-09 season, but they?ll be coming to Newport ? specifically, Salve Regina University.

The deal to have the Celtics train at Salve is all but done, according to Kristine Hendrickson, Salve?s associate vice president for university relations and chief communications officer.

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Vegas police briefly handcuff Paul Pierce

LAS VEGAS (AP) ? Police detained NBA star Paul Pierce in handcuffs during a weekend traffic stop on the Las Vegas Strip, but released him without issuing a summons.

Las Vegas police Officer Bill Cassell said Monday that Pierce was handcuffed briefly after emerging "a little agitated" from a vehicle he was driving around 3 a.m. Sunday.

Pierce led the Boston Celtics to the championship this year and was MVP of the finals.

The 6-foot-7, 235-pound Pierce was given field sobriety tests and a Breathalyzer, which registered below the legal limit. Cassell said Pierce was not arrested.

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