The Boston Celtics kick off their season tonight against the Toronto Raptors. Even if the Red Sox weren't on the cusp of winning the World Series, I still wouldn't watch. I can't. It's going to be too painful.
The Celtics are rebuilding, which is a nice way of saying that they're going to be terrible this year. They made that abundantly clear throughout a listless preseason in which they looked out-of-synch and overmatched. The team is in flux, having just traded away its heart and soul - Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
Gone too is head coach Doc Rivers, the steady hand and spiritual leader who guided Boston to more than 400 wins and seven playoff appearances in his nine seasons at the helm. Rivers saw where the team was going - nowhere - and jumped ship, forcing a trade to the Los Angeles Clippers where he can coach a championship-caliber squad fronted by Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.
Rivers is replaced on the Celtics bench by Brad Stevens, a longtime college coach at Butler with zero NBA coaching experience. Stevens is a smart guy who handles young players well, but there's going to be an adjustment period as he learns the ropes in his first year on the job.
Stevens' inexperience is exacerbated by his personnel who have yet to develop any semblance of chemistry on the court. This year's outfit is an unfamiliar one, made up largely of new players (none of whom are particularly good) acquired in the blockbuster deal that sent Pierce, Garnett and Jason Terry to the Brooklyn Nets.
To make matters worse, Rajon Rondo, Boston's dynamic point guard and best player, is still recovering from a torn ACL suffered last January. Rondo's rehabilitation has gone well and, barring any major setbacks, he should return to the court this season, but nobody can say for sure when that will be or if he'll be the same player when he comes back. His future is made even more uncertain by whispers that he too could be traded, and if/when he leaves, there won't be anyone left from the Celtics team that reached the NBA Finals in 2010.
Put it all together, and this is shaping up to be Boston's worst season since its 2006-2007 train-wreck of a year, in which the team bottomed out by losing 18 games in a row at one point and finishing with a 24-58 record. That prompted GM Danny Ainge to go out and trade for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, assembling a Big Three with Pierce that revitalized basketball in Boston.
Their first season together culminated with the Celtics winning their 17th championship and first since 1986. They brought back Celtic Pride, sold out the Garden on a regular basis and transformed the Cs into perennial powerhouses in the Eastern Conference.
This year is going to be different. Much different. There probably won't be too many meaningful regular season games, let alone any postseason games, and the Garden figures to have plenty of empty seats this winter. Next summer's draft is supposed to be loaded, so it makes sense for the Celtics to tank in order to land a good pick. They must sacrifice the present in order to improve their future.
It's going to be awhile before the Celtics are good again. It's going to be awhile before I can start watching them play again too.
Tyler Maher is a junior who is majoring in economics. He can be reached at Tyler.Maher@tufts.edu.
