Liberal Arts Blog — The Depth Of The Boston Celtics: Al Horford (Dominican), Kristaps Porzingis (Latvian), Derrick White (US)
Liberal Arts Blog — Saturday is Sports, Dance, Fitness, and All Things Physical Day
Today’s Topic: The Depth of the Boston Celtics: Al Horford (Dominican), Kristaps Porzingis (Latvian), Derrick White (US)
Is it the depth of the 2023–2024 Celtics that makes them one of the greatest NBA teams ever?
Two weeks ago I covered the two biggest names — Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Today, three more Celtics: Al Horford (Dominican), Kristaps Porzingis (Latvian), and Derrick White (US).
The premise of the series is that the more you know about the more topics more people care most about the greater your chance of having a meaningful conversation and a moment of shared joy. And the more beautiful the world becomes.
Note that in 2024 the Celtics entered the playoffs for the tenth consecutive season which is a record. “They also won the Maurice Podoloff Trophy for clinching the best record in the NBA for the first time since 2008.”
While the team has won 17 NBA Finals, the team has only won one in the last 38 years.
That was in 2008 when “the Big Three” (Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen) overcame the Los Angeles Lakers “led by Pau Gasol and MVP Kobe Bryant).
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
AL HORFORD (“Godfather”) — Dominican, highest paid Latin American player in the NBA, 6 ft 9 in, center or power forward, 38 years old
1. Atlanta Hawks, 2007–2016; Boston Celtics, 2016–2019; Philadelphia 76ers, 2019–2020; Oklahoma Thunder, 2020–2021, Boston Celtics 2021 — Present.
2. 5X NBA All Star: 2010,2011,2015,2016, 2018)
3. “On May 15, 2024, in game 5 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Horford became the first player in NBA history to record 10+ rebounds, 5+ three-pointers, 5+ assists and 3+ blocks as he did in a series-clinching 113–98 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. In Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, Horford scored 23 points on a career high seven three-pointers in a 114–111 comeback win.”
NB: Full name: Alfred Joel Horford Reynoso. Born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic in 1986. Family moved to Lansing Michigan in 2000.
KRISTAPS PORZINGIS (“The Unicorn”) — 7 ft 2 in, Power Forward, Center, injury-plagued, 28 years old, Latvian
1. Youngest player to win the EuroCup Rising Star Award at age 19 in 2015.
2. Ini October 2023 he scored a record 30 points in his debut with the Celtics in their 108 to 104 victory over the Knicks.
3. In 2024, injuries however caused him to miss the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Cavaliers and the finals against the Pacers.
NB: “Porzingis returned for game one of the Finals against the Mavericks, coming off the bench and scoring 18 of his 20 points in the first half. After playing in Game 2, Porzingis would develop a new injury ‘with a torn medialretinaculum, allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon’ in his left leg that was considered completely unrelated to the previous injury he had dealt with for most of the playoffs.”
DERRICK WHITE (“the Buffalo”) 6ft 4in, shooting guard, point guard, starter since 2022–2023
1. San Antonio Spurs (2017–2022), Boston Celtics (2022 — Present)
2. 2022–2023 Season: “White started in 70 games and appeared in all 82 regular season games, both career highs. He also shot 38.15 from three and 87.5% from the free throw line, while registering 76 blocked shots (all career highs).
3. “In game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals (in 2023), White made a buzzer-beating put-back shot as time expired to narrowly beat the Miami Heat 104–103 to force a Game 7 in Boston, saving the Celtics from elimination.
White became the second player in NBA history to hit a buzzer-beating game-winner with his team trailing and facing elmination, joining Michael Jordan’s “The Shot” in 1989. The Celtics went on to lose Game 7, 103–84 in which White scored 18 points.”
NB: 2023–2024 season: “White’s production increased as he averaged 15.2 points, 5.2 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game. White appeared in 73 games and shot 46.1% from the field, including a career-high 39.6% from three. On March 18,2024 White recorded the first career triple-double of his career with 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in a a 119–94 victory over the Detroit Pistons. During Game 4 of the first round playoffs against the Miami Heat, White had a playoff career-high 38 points in a 102–88 road victory. During Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, White scored 16 points and made the game winning three-pointer as the Celtics completed a 105–102 comeback victory and advanced to the 2023 NBA Finals.”
Kristaps Porziņģis — Wikipedia
Derrick White (basketball) — Wikipedia
Why the 2024 Boston Celtics could become one of the greatest NBA teams ever
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
For the last four years of posts organized by theme:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned this week related to sports, dance, fitness. Or the coolest thing you learned about Sports, Dance, of Fitness in your life — whether on the field, on the dance floor or in the gym, whether from a coach, a parent, a friend, or just your own experimentation.
This is your chance to make some one else’s day. Or even change their life. It’s perhaps a chance to put into words something you have never articulated before. And to cement in your own memory something cool you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart.
