Rolling rally
The players, coaches, owners and staff were perched on more than a dozen amphibian vehicles from Boston Duck Tours while two flatbed trucks carried the Celtics dancers, former players and championship trophies from past years.
Before the season started, Celtics coach Doc Rivers took the Big Three – Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen – on a city tour aboard a duck boat which is as popular in Boston as the New State House (built in 1795 with a dome covered in 23.5 carat gold leaf) and the Paul Revere House (built in 1680, it is the oldest house in downtown and was where the fabled silversmith – the midnight rider warning that the British were coming in 1775 - lived).
The parade started in front of the Celtics home building, the TD Banknorth Garden, and ended at
A spectator, Filipino basketball coach Eric Banes, said the crowd got too unruly that the players never got down from their duck boats to mingle with the fans.
Banes arrived from
Banes was formerly an assistant coach for the La Salle Zobel high school basketball team. He now provides specialized one-on-one-training for junior players in Alabang.
“I flew to
Banes was at the Garden when the Celtics swamped the Los Angeles Lakers, 131-92, in Game 6 to clinch the NBA championship last Tuesday. It was the second largest margin of victory in an NBA Finals game, next only to
Making good use of his time, Banes was at the National Strength and Conditioning Association meeting at the University of Connecticut last June 13-14 and attended the Institute of Performance and Fitness in Andover, Massachusetts, under the guidance of Celtics strength and conditioning coach Walter Norton.
“My schedule was coordinated by coach Kevin and Mike Boyle, a strength and conditioning coach associated with pro basketball, football and baseball players and Olympians,” Banes went on. “It’s an internship review program.”
Banes is scheduled to attend the Steve Nash Academy for the top 20 American high school point guards in New Jersey on June 25-28 and the LeBron James US Skills Academy for the top 80 prep stars in Akron, Ohio, on July 5-9.
There are other camps to be conducted by Amare Stoudemire for power forwards in
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A touching sidelight to the Finals story was Celtics star Ray Allen’s devotion to his 17-month-old son Walker.
Before Game 5 of the Finals at the
Allen, 32, didn’t join his teammates on the flight back to
Allen was in uniform for the tip-off and wound up with 26 points, including 7-of-9 treys. The next day, he joined Kevin Garnett in showing off the NBA championship trophy at David Letterman’s show in
“We found out before Game 5 that he was going to be admitted to the hospital and they did blood work and they found out that he was diabetic,” Allen told Letterman. “I didn’t know what to think. At first, it was a shock and it hurt us, seeing him in the hospital after the game, seeing him connected to tubes. As a parent, it bothered me tremendously but you know, now, we’re on the right track and we’re definitely going to take care of him for the rest of his life. That day, I really put it all in perspective and you know, we’re playing in one of the biggest games of our careers and I thought about him in the hospital and I said, well, where are my priorities at this moment. You know what, I want to be with these guys but the little fella’s whom I want to be with most.”
Allen was born in a US Air Force Base and is the third of five children (his father Walter, mother Flo and sisters Kim and Kristie all played semi-pro basketball). His brother John played high school football. His parents are estranged. He has three children - daughter Tierra, Walter Ray and Walker.
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