Celtics announce first five names of All-Celtics roster for NBA's 75th anniversary celebration

But no KC Jones?!! I say, come on, man! I might have to void the whole list because of that one omission!!

db

The 15 are listed below.

https://www.nba.com/celtics/75team

Maybe if Boston did not have so many great players it would be easier to pick a top 15.

I still believe Rajon Rondo should have been on the team. He put up impressive numbers. His 92 playoff games were outstanding and better than Ray's contribution in 91 games. So as far as I am concerned you can take either Ray or DJ off the list and insert Rajon in their place.

dbrown4 wrote:Wow!!!! Found this.

https://www.nba.com/celtics/75team

Fans have a grudge against K.C. Jones?!!!  WTH, Bo?!!!  I had to check the list several times to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me!!

Rosalie, good pick on Sharman!

db

Good point DB. K.C. Should definitely be on this list. 2 rings as a coach. 8 as a player. Take Ray’s ass off. He’s a Heatle anyway!

And Ktron, it's not like he'd be coming in at 15th. He's EASILY a #2 or #3 behind, well, you know!! That's a major miss and snub. I wasn't expecting him to anywhere near missing this list. Well, too late to change it now. Again, we said the list was too short. Should have been 20!

db

dbrown4 wrote:And Ktron, it's not like he'd be coming in at 15th.  He's EASILY a #2 or #3 behind, well, you know!!  That's a major miss and snub.  I wasn't expecting him to anywhere near missing this list.  Well, too late to change it now.  Again, we said the list was too short.  Should have been 20!

db

No doubt!

I’m starting to realize after the Cooz retired, KC took over the reins and we didn’t miss a beat. Heard he was similar to the modern athlete and a pitbull on defense, got no problem with him replacing Ray Allen. Loved Rays 7 3’s in clinching game, hate FACT he was Benedict Arnold and won a championship for Lebron.

cowens/oldschool wrote:I’m starting to realize after the Cooz retired, KC took over the reins and we didn’t miss a beat. Heard he was similar to the modern athlete and a pitbull on defense, got no problem with him replacing Ray Allen. Loved Rays 7 3’s in clinching game, hate FACT he was Benedict Arnold and won a championship for Lebron.

Cow I remember when Cousy retired.  Sports Illustrated had a cover article.  'Can the Celtics win without Cousy'?  KC steps in and the championships continued.

I agree that KC deserved the spot that Ray Allen occupies.  In addition, here are two names that contributed to multiple championships, who in my mind should have been named in place of Ray -- Max and Satch Sanders

I started this thread and then forgot all about it. Thanks dbrown for picking it up.

I’m not going to take a shot at naming the top 15.

I’ll just say there are probably about 20 players you could make an argument for, leaving several favorites off the list. Being among the league’s original teams, and having enjoyed so much early success, there is a big pool to pick from.

Birnam, you are on to something.  In looking at the announcement page for this, this is sponsored by Arbella Insurance.  This company shouldn't be too difficult to track down and send a request.  

Clearly, everyone agrees this list is a good idea.  Nothing wrong there.  And clearly no one is upset with a majority of the picks for the top 15.  We pretty much agreed early on that they handcuffed themselves by going with only 15 players on a team rich with greats.  We even predicted with great accuracy that someone would be pissed who missed the list.  But we were on the other end nitpicking the 15th slot.  And the fact that we probably wouldn't be having this conversation had KC been on this list.  Yes, we would have still poked at a Ray or Rondo but those are peripheral.  KC missing is glaring...no matter who is putting the list together.  

Provided I can track down Arbella Insurance and find a "public" way in, I am very confident I can draft a gracious and respectful letter with all Boston Celtic fans in mind. (maybe even talk to someone on the inside)

Again, my intent is not to go in looking for a fight.  Merely to point out that this list was/is a great idea.  Not arguing with anyone that made the list.  Just the fact that one player is glaringly/oddly missing given that the selections were based upon thousands of votes cast by fans and an official voting panel that included media members and Celtic historians.

I'm not saying anyone should be booted off the list either. All I'm saying is there is an omission. A glaring one. And also on the heels of his death. Doh!!
 
Sound cool?  Please advise.  

db

dbrown,

I wouldn't get too worked up about it.

I think it's good you're passionate about KC's place in Celtic history. These lists are just opinion, however, and someone else might leave him off the list for one reason or another.

If nothing else, as a long time sponsor of the Celtics, Arbella contributed an interesting debate to our conversations.

As I said earlier, the franchise dates back so far, and had so much early success, that there is simply too big a pool to not leave some deserving players out. They would irritate even more fans if they tried for a top 10 or 12.

I'm sure if I listed my top 15 Celtics here, I'd piss more than one person off. Exactly why I'm not doing it!

Regards

NYCelt wrote:dbrown,

I wouldn't get too worked up about it.

I think it's good you're passionate about KC's place in Celtic history. These lists are just opinion, however, and someone else might leave him off the list for one reason or another.

If nothing else, as a long time sponsor of the Celtics, Arbella contributed an interesting debate to our conversations.

As I said earlier, the franchise dates back so far, and had so much early success, that there is simply too big a pool to not leave some deserving players out. They would irritate even more fans if they tried for a top 10 or 12.

I'm sure if I listed my top 15 Celtics here, I'd piss more than one person off. Exactly why I'm not doing it!

Regards

Just to add to that, I’m 61, the first real season that I followed and understood the game was the 69 season. Before that I watched with my Dad, not understanding why my Dad was shouting during games. Remember seeing game 7 and understanding all the ramifications and sweating I was so excited. I knew exactly who Russell and Wilt were and Havlicek and Jerry West. Remember how great it was we got off to a big lead in game 7. Anyway my point is most of these Arbilla employees who came up with this are passionate basketball fans, I’m gonna assume around 30-50 years of age and may love the game, but never saw KC play; which is why all these types of lists are subjective at best and ofcourse the old guys will always be more left out than the recent.

NYCelt,

As always, your input and advise is greatly appreciated! And I would completely agree with you if this was us debating whether a peripheral player like a Ray Allen or a Rondo deserved to get the 14th or 15th spot.

But if this is not exactly like the Lakers doing this same list and leaving Kobe off behind Kareem and Magic, I'll stand down.

The fact that Arbella posited that the players were selected "based upon thousands of vote cast by fans and an official voting panel that included media members and Celtics historians" makes me really wonder. There is no way in the world all those people would have missed KC Jones that badly. Absolutely no way.

I agree that if you did your own list you would piss a couple of people off but it would be on the other end, near 14th or 15th. And that's just minutia.

If it can be shown that leaving KC off this (ranked in the mix with Russell and Sam Jones for top honors) is any different than the Lakers doing the same list and leaving Kobe off (ranked behind Kareem and Magic) and there would not be an uprising by Laker Nation of the grandest scale with picketing, rallies, etc., I'll reconsider. I'd parallel KC right there with Kobe in 3rd without the two coaching championships at worst.

I just believe it is a blatant oversight given the number they chose. I know what they were trying to do. They were trying to make it look like a "team" with 15 players. I get it. But with all the fire power they listed right on the front page of who was involved putting the list together, it is unimaginable they would miss KC.

Now from a marketing perspective, I don't know how they would wiggle their way out of it unless they are just hoping this will blow over or if someone has brought this to their attention they have a standard answer to sweep it under the rug. And you may very well be right, NYCelt, just leave it alone.

IMHBAO, KC Jones is Russell, Jr. He's easily Top 3. He did everything Russell did except have as many championships. Both also coached the Celtics and won titles.

Plus given our early successes, the players from that era should be emphasized. During my cognizant lifetime and television era, I "missed" the '74 and '76 championships but saw all the 4 after that in '81, '84, '86 and '08. So 6 out of the 17.

Anyway, the more I look at it, you may be right. Someone has to have brought this to their attention already in a very passionate way.

One last point and I'll quit. In an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond, Raymond is charged with throwing a bachelor party for his brother Robert. They have it at their father's (Frank) lodge. When they are prepping for the party before Robert gets there, the put up a big sign which is supposed to say "Congratulations Robert!!" But it has someone else's name on it! Would you leave it up?

Someone really screwed up!

db

DB love your passion, but don’t know if the Kobe and KC comparison is a good or fair comparison. Both played in different eras and had different responsibilities on their respective teams….just sayin