The Big Three

October 26, 2020
Sportswriter Holley (Belichick and Brady) details the Boston Celtics’ return to “championship glory” during the 2000s in this fascinating behind-the-scenes account. After new owners bought the team in 2003, Danny Ainge, a former Celtic player who went on to coach in the NBA, was brought on as executive director of basketball operations and given the task of constructing a winning roster. Ainge was unafraid to trade popular players, flipping some for draft picks that he later used to acquire Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. After drafting Paul Pierce, Ainge had assembled what became known as the “The Big Three,” who helped win the title in 2008, their first year playing together. The squad’s success was short-lived, however, and Ainge began breaking up the team in the franchise’s long-term interest: Pierce and Garnett were traded in a 2013 deal that yielded valuable draft picks that restocked the roster with young talent. Holley includes many revelations, such as co-owner Wyc Grousbeck’s unwavering support in the drafting of Rajon Rondo, a key member of the championship team. This clear-eyed look at the vicissitudes of professional sports will appeal even to those who don’t bleed Celtic green.

December 1, 2020

The Boston Celtics have been no strangers to NBA success, their all-time record 17 NBA championships matched by the Los Angeles Lakers in the abbreviated 2019-20 season. Many of these titles came early in the 1950s and 1960s. Two more titles came during the 1970s, and the Celts' original Big Three of Larry Bird, Robert Parish, and Kevin McHale earned three more in the 1980s. Then came leaner years until the Big Three of this book--big men Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and sharpshooting Ray Allen--led Boston to the 2008 title. Sportswriter Holley (Belichick and Brady), of course, concentrates on that magical season and the next few years that the Big Three remained together, but he bookends this discourse with copious inside information on how General Manager and former player Danny Ainge and other Boston executives manipulated bringing this team and coach Doc Rivers together and, after all had departed, have orchestrated a largely successful rebuilding process. Holley also offers insight into the Celts' main challenge in 2008: the Cleveland Cavaliers led by superstar LeBron James. VERDICT A can't-miss with Celtics die-hards and enjoyable reading for other fans of the game.--Jim Burns, formerly with Jacksonville P.L., FL

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