Morning sports update: Tim Duncan discussed what might have been had the Celtics won the 1997 NBA lottery
"In my head, I was going to Boston. I just kind of knew it."
Tonight, the Celtics face the Wizards at 7:30 p.m. Boston is trying to extend its current three-game winning streak.
Tim Duncan on his Celtics expectations: In 1997, the Celtics’ luck appeared to be changing after a decade filled with decline.
Boston, having been near the top of the NBA for decades, bottomed out that season with a record of just 15-67. The historically bad year ensured one major silver lining: lottery odds.
Because of the team’s record, as well as a shrewd trade the year before, Boston owned two lottery picks, and had a combined 36 percent chance of getting the No. 1 pick.
The reward for having the first selection in the 1997 draft was the franchise-altering chance to draft Tim Duncan.
Rick Pitino, Boston’s newly-hired head coach, was obviously intent on selecting Duncan if he had the opportunity. And in a recent interview, Duncan noted that he expected he would become a Celtic.
“The assumption was I was going to Boston,” Duncan told Logan Murdock and Raja Bell in a recent episode of “Real Ones” on The Ringer. “In my head, I was going to Boston. I just kind of knew it.”
“And then Boston goes third, and I remember getting up from the couch, standing on the table watching the table like ‘holy crap, I’m not going to Boston?!’ And in my head, that’s where I was going, just the percentage chances.”
As it played out, the Celtics did not get the requisite luck to get the No. 1 pick. Instead, San Antonio (with a 21.6 percent chance) won the lottery, and thus Duncan.
The power forward would go on to become the transformational player he was expected to be. He helped the Spurs win five titles and made 15 All-Star teams.
Had he gone to play for Pitino and the Celtics, Duncan expressed some uncertainty about how it might have gone.
“I don’t know if I would’ve worked out,” Duncan said of the Boston possibility. “I don’t know what would’ve happened but obviously it worked out pretty well for me, ending where I did, being with Coach [Popovich] and being with all those vets, learning from David [Robinson].”
“I think Pitino at the time was the Boston coach and obviously they were running a much different system there, so who knows?”
Trivia: Who was the last draft pick of the Rick Pitino era?
(Answer at the bottom).
Hint: Frenchman selected 11th overall out of UCLA.
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Kendrick Perkins’ nickname for Payton Pritchard
:
On this day: In 2001, Celtics coach Rick Pitino ended his tumultuous tenure by turning in his resignation.
Despite arriving in Boston amid fanfare and expectations befitting the unprecedented 10-year contract he was given in 1997 for $70 million, Pitino had failed to deliver. Over three-and-a-half frustrating seasons, the Celtics had gone just 102-146.
Daily highlight: No. 1 pick Anthony Edwards threw down a thunderous dunk as part of his 26-point night. Unfortunately for Edwards and the Timberwolves, it wasn’t enough in a 135-117 loss to the Trail Blazers.
Anthony Edwards throws it down with authority. pic.twitter.com/6JnGrfYyP9
— NBA (@NBA) January 8, 2021
Trivia answer: Jérôme Moïso
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