Mr. Bawful, you're not a Kareem fan? Shocking :)

Yams -- Hey, didn't I just defend Kareem from Shaq a couple posts ago? No, I'm not anti-Kareem. I do tend to think he was a little childish during his career (go back and watch him pout and flail and complain about officiating in those old Celtics-Lakers games from the 80s). And that particular attack on Wilt was pretty petty. Mind you, Wilt certainly said things to antagonize Kareem (in particular, he chided Kareem for not always hitting the boards hard and for sometimes resting on defense, both of which were valid claims, and Wilt wasn't the only person who noticed).

Also, in his 1983 memoir, Giant Steps, Kareem went after Wilt, insinuating that he had regularly dropped 50 point games on The Big Dipper and that, as a result, Wilt saw the door slamming shut on his career and threw tantrums about it. Kareem also said he had it "any way he wanted" against Wilt. The reality is, Kareem had exactly ten 50-point games in his career, and only one of those came against Wilt...and the Bucks (for whom Kareem was playing at the time) lost that game.

Now, mind you, I'm a Wilt fan. Yes, he was obnoxious and opinionated, but he was more "real" to me than Kareem. Kareem always struck me as arrogant and imperious. He tried to hard to appear to be taking the moral high ground when in reality -- as his "Chumperlame" letter proved -- he was as petty and childish as anyone else.

But, again, these feelings might have been partially tained by my genuine and heartfelt appreciation for Chamberlain.

I was just teasing (you know, like Shaq was), and looking for stuff to talk about. What moves do you think the Celtics are gonna make this summer? Any word on whether everyone will be back to defend the title next year? I wonder if there's gonna be any major moves made before or during the draft.

Could I get some help on the timeline of the Kareem Wilt "Beef". Was it only in the Kareem Buck days and Wilt Laker days?

Yams -- Well, first of all, it's absolutely imperative that they hold on to James Posey. His role as a selfless, lock-down defender and clutch three-point shooter cannot be understated. I'm guessing Sam-I-Am is gone...probably no big deal. They should hang on to P.J. if they can; he can still play a solid 5-10 minutes in relief if absolutely necessary.

They should also re-sign Eddie House. He's a zone-buster and an energy guy. Nice weapon to have off the bench.

Lindsey Hunter is a free agent. He'd fit in perfectly as a defensive guard off the bench.

Other than that, I can't think of too many moves the Celtics need to make. The biggest issues they'll face will come from injuries and the seemingly inevitable "championship hangover."

anonymous -- The beef began pretty much from the day Kareem (then Lew Alcindor) entered the league. Wilt was aging and a far cry from his 50 PPG self, but he was still The Man as far as centers go. Kareem, on the other hand, wanted to become The Man.

They started going at each other almost immediately, both on the court and off (in the form of snide comments).

The feud kept going despite the fact that Wilt retired in '73. The Stilt never missed an opportunity to bring up this or that about Kareem "underperforming" in comparison to what Wilt had done in his prime. Kareem sometimes ignored it, but he more regularly made some biting comment back, and so it would go.

sun devil -- You know that's going to be a post, right?

Personally I think Danny Ainge will make some irrelevant additions to the roster. Prior to last summer, he was an absolutely terrible GM. My big question is how the Celtics are going to handle next season. Will they hit the floor running like they did this year? Or will they suck for about half of the season before they half-heartedly get it together like the Heat did?

Bbawful- I felt it was my duty to inform you of this little pearl from oystertag.

That Ostertag tattoo probably rivals the Karl Malone semi truck with the mural of Malone riding a horse while wearing a cowboy hat (pics anyone?) for the nadir of the Utah Jazz.

Mr. Bawful, you're probably right about the Celtics' offseason plans. They're the champs, they don't need to make many (or any) changes. Posey and PJ are definitely key pieces and need to be retained, but has PJ said if he's willing to come back now that he got his ring? I think the Celtics really need to get more out of Glen Davis next year in case PJ doesn't come back or isn't able to give as much due to his age, but anything they get out of Big Baby has to start with keeping him in shape. Once that young man metabolism slows down on him he's gonna have to work real hard to stay in playing shape or else he'll become Oliver Miller.

"Mind you, Wilt certainly said things to antagonize Kareem (in particular, he chided Kareem for not always hitting the boards hard and for sometimes resting on defense, both of which were valid claims, and Wilt wasn't the only person who noticed)."

Right you are Basketbawful- right you are. Apparently- LOTS of people noticed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZh8iYEDwDE

sun devil -- Good questions. Many people claim that the Celtics will always be super-intense while KG's there because that's just how KG is...but then again, we've never seen how KG, Pierce and Allen have responded to winning a title because, well, they've never won one before. I can't imagine they could possibly bring the same level of intensity. Of course, now they have Championship Experience (TM).

And thanks again for doing your duty. :)

Yams -- Oooooh, why oh why did you have to bring up that semi truck mural? I feel physical pain at its mere mention.

You know, unfortunately, I see Big Baby going the Oliver Miller route for sure. (In fact, I was just talking to Evil Ted about this yesterday.) Let's face it, if he wasn't inspired by KG, Pierce and Allen, not to mention Doc Rivers, to get in shape this season...will he ever? I think not.

My other problem with Baby, frankly, is his size. I mean, 6'9" centers have to make up for their lack of height with athleticism, desire and wild abandom (think Ben Wallace from a few years back, or Dave Cowens). I just don't see that in Baby's game. Let's face it, the only time Pau Gasol got physical in the Finals was against Baby's defense.

ak dave -- Ha! Right you are. Of course, that was another attempt by Kareem at clearing his name of those accusations.

ak dave, YouTube is blocked at work, but that's gotta be the classic scene in Airplane! "The hell I don't!" :)

Mr. Bawful, you're probably right about Big Baby. It's tough to imagine that he's going to suddenly kick it into another gear now that he's succeeded while playing overweight alongside some of the league's best. Perkins seemed to finally be waking up this year though, so maybe he'll be the long-term answer at center for Boston. Is TT staying in Boston or are there still head coaching gigs out there for him?

Yams -- I think Perkins is a fighter who will continue to work hard to improve. Unfortunately, he's ploddingly slow and has a lot more trouble finishing around the basket than you would expect from a man his size. He is the recipient of a lot of gracious passes from the other Celtics, but he lacks the raw athleticism to explode to the hole. He usually takes a power dribble -- and a slow one at that -- and then tries to push up through a sea of hands. This usually results in a blocked shot (he usually gets at least one shot blocked a game, somtimes more). Basically, there's a cap on how good he can get...which is too bad for a guy who wants it as bad as he seems to.

Tom appears to be staying put in Boston...for next season at least. All the other head coaching vacancies are filled at the moment.

Yams -- I think Perkins is a fighter who will continue to work hard to improve. Unfortunately, he's ploddingly slow and has a lot more trouble finishing around the basket than you would expect from a man his size. He is the recipient of a lot of gracious passes from the other Celtics, but he lacks the raw athleticism to explode to the hole. He usually takes a power dribble -- and a slow one at that -- and then tries to push up through a sea of hands. This usually results in a blocked shot (he usually gets at least one shot blocked a game, somtimes more). Basically, there's a cap on how good he can get...which is too bad for a guy who wants it as bad as he seems to.

Tom appears to be staying put in Boston...for next season at least. All the other head coaching vacancies are filled at the moment.

@Yams:

"You tell your old man to drag Walton and Lanier up and down the court every night!"

Hahahaha- I never knew that kid was telling the truth. Makes it even funnier.

Notwithstanding his shirtless appearance at the rolling rally, Glen 'Big Baby' Davis has actually lost weight this year. He's noticeably trimmer than his LSU days. There is an athleticism trying to bust out... You'd have seen it more in the regular season so you ought not to judge by playoff performance (rookie season, remember?).

This offseason will be key. If he can keep it off, or even lose more, look for him to bust out.

The Celtics have a history of trimming off the baby fat: they added a couple of years to Antoine Walkers career before trading him, and came really close to resurrecting Vin Baker before alcoholism claimed him again. Just find pictures of Perkins and Al Jefferson during their rookie years... tub-a-blubbers the both or 'em...

Yams -- Well, first of all, it's absolutely imperative that they hold on to James Posey. His role as a selfless, lock-down defender and clutch three-point shooter cannot be understated. I'm guessing Sam-I-Am is gone...probably no big deal. They should hang on to P.J. if they can; he can still play a solid 5-10 minutes in relief if absolutely necessary.

They should also re-sign Eddie House. He's a zone-buster and an energy guy. Nice weapon to have off the bench.

The Celts got the starting five. Any changes to that lineup would be insane

They've stuck with Tony Allen thru some knee injuries. He healed up pretty well and should be coming off the bench behind Pierce or Allen, or he can play point for Rondo. So if Posey leaves they got him.

Leon Powe is just going to get better and better.

I think the only weak spot on the entire Celtic roster is Danny Ainge. Yeah, you can say he brought the big guns... but his shooting percentage is abysmal: he's wheeled-n-dealed through nearly FIFTY players since signing on in 2003. Think about that... not only is that an obscenely large number of ball players, it's a very short time... how's a team supposed to gel? How's a team supposed to play together if the pieces are constantly being shuffled? I think he's a terrible GM who's gotten extremely lucky... hope that doesn't go to his head. His smartest play is to take the next two years off... seriously.

Danny Ainge is the weak link? That's the dumbest thing I've read since "On The Road."

If you don't understand that Ainge completely remade a team into a championship contender then quite clearly you're a dumbass. Every move since 2003 was made to put the team into a position to grab a superstar like Garnett. People think the Telfair deal was dumb, but you don't realize that if they don't do that deal then they don't get Garnett and so on. Also, only one player he has drafted in five years is out of the league. Who else can make those claims?

He's by far the smartest GM in the league.

I can't believe you would even write such a stupid comment. You should punch yourself.

And also. I took that picture of Brian Scalabrine you have on your masthead there.

If you don't understand that Ainge completely remade a team into a championship contender then quite clearly you're a dumbass.

Well... duh! If you remake a team, and then remake it again, and then remake it again... and again. And then wait a day... and them remake it again... Eventually even you will see that repeated invocation eventually has to pan out... that is to say 'get lucky'. There's a reason that he was called "Danny Ain't" back in the day... I've watched it in action this past 5 years.

Well, maybe you won't see it but nhumans not descended from trolls will.

Now, if you're going to try and tell me that was all part of the plan, rather than fumbling and flailing... let me just start laughing now.