Ford once dunked over Julius Erving, earning the nickname “Doc” from his Celtics teammates
On my TV back then, it looked there was barely enough room in the corner to fit your feet between the original 3-pt line and OOB.Loved that 81 team so much. Really sad to hear this.
I remember him getting a pass and looking to shoot a three-pointer and noticing both his feet were on the line.
Pulled back his right foot a few inches and then pulled back his left foot a few inches and then swished the shot. No call.
You see more egregious stuff ten times a night now but back in the day it was pretty funny.
Yup: I wasn't old enough to remember his playing years, but remember him being K.C.'s right hand man followed by getting the most out of rosters that could have easily tanked completely.Took over a team with an aging roster and then lost Reggie Lewis but still managed to make the playoffs four of five years.
I was too young in 81 to remember him on that championship team. I remember him best as a coach. He was dealt a difficult hand with Bird, McHale and Parish aging and declining however that 90-91 team was a lot of fun. The Celtics had a brief resurgence after a couple of underachieving seasons under coach Jimmy Rogers including two consecutive years of first round playoff exits. I was pretty excited about Reggie Lewis, Brian Shaw, Kevin Gamble and Dee Brown as a young up and coming nucleus. Coach Ford got the most out of that bunch. I think Ford was the Eastern Conference All Star coach that season. The first round playoff series victory over Reggie Miller, Chuck Person and Detlef Schrempf was intense and a lot of fun. They put up a pretty good fight in the 2nd round but lost to a superior Detroit Pistons squad. Unfortunately that season was the high water mark for the Chris Ford coached Celtics.Took over a team with an aging roster and then lost Reggie Lewis but still managed to make the playoffs four of five years.
At least you got to watch it. I was living in the Sheraton Southfield in Michigan after being transferred to Detroit by Group W Broadcasting. Back then the games were on tape delay and shown at 11:30 pm. NFW I could stay up that late on work nights, so I sat in my car in the parking lot and listened to Johnny Most on WBZ and yelled and screamed my ass off.That Sixers series was easily one of the craziest, most nerve-wracking things I've ever watched. And I watch a lot of sports.
So sad about Ford...really liked those Celtics teams.Bob Ryan-
View: https://twitter.com/GlobeBobRyan/status/1615855922546458626
"RIP Chris Ford: a player who got everything out of his natural ability and as unpretentious and normal a human being as any coach I’ve ever known. He was like your next door neighbor who just happened to be going to work at the Garden. And, yes, he made the first NBA three."
Yeah, especially playing with Larry. Bob Ryan is amazing. I'm positive that he knows that is how Chris wants to be remembered.So sad about Ford...really liked those Celtics teams.
Gotta' love Bob Ryan and how he puts things in perspective,