Sunday News

Bob,

It's certainly unusual when a guy picked far below another guy becomes the nurturer of the higher pick. I suspect a lot of it is a habit Kris picked up at Syracuse in trying to shield Melo—who's relatively new to basketball, the U.S., and the English language—from the press. But there seems to be more to it than that.

Joseph seems to have a natural penchant for leadership. He appears to be a thoughtful speaker, not prone to making wild comments that he later regrets. He obviously doesn't shrink from trying to motivate Melo. As, as you pointed out, he has a real facility for dealing with the press.

If I had to pick a Celtic that Kris most reminds me of, it would be Frank Ramsey. They're very different in stature and skill sets, but I'm talking about the more cerebral aspects of being a pro. Rams had a way about him that invited his peers and much better players to view him as a de facto leader. He was popular in the locker room but was never afraid to speak his mind because what he said was always well thought-out. His famous comment, "Boys, you're playing with my money," is symptomatic of what he was capable of in the leadership department. In my estimation, it was the most natural thing in the world that Rams would become a well-respected bank president after basketball.

I won't be at all surprised if, within a couple of years, Joseph becomes a similar kind of de facto leader of the team. And I also won't be surprised if he reprises Rams' role, which called for a lot of unsung heroism—doing little things that repeatedly inspired teammates and helped pull the team up by the bootstraps.

You're probably too young to remember George Frazier, a giant of a writer who wrote a column for the Boston Herald and later the Boston Globe, covering all sorts of topics (somewhat akin to my idol, Herb Caen). I believe it was George who popularized the term "duende" (previously associated with Garcia Lorca), for which I've heard a variety of definitions including, "wit, grace and class," "that something that makes someone or something irresistably attractive," magnetism, charm and charisma, and simply "class under pressure."

In the absence of a truly universally accepted definition of "duende," George tended to pepper his columns with examples of who had duende and who didn't. He said Ted Williams had more duende striking out than Stan Musial had hitting a home run. Sinatra and Billy Holiday had it but Joey Bishop and Barbra Streisand did not. Bob Cousy had duende. Steve Nash never would have gotten in the same county with the term.

Whether Frank Ramsey was driving a rent-a-car down Maine sidewalks because his carful of Celtics was late for an exhibition game or exhorting Celtics teammates in the locker room or providing an magical spark as the model for sixth men of the future to emulate, he definitely had duende. And I would nominate Kris Joseph as a worthwhile, though early, candidate to follow in Rams' footsteps.

Sam

bobheckler wrote:That shouldn't be hard...


bob


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First nomination for understatemtent of the week!!

beat