Boston Celtics championship 2007-08

 

Part 1 of Boston Celtics Championship 2008 from Youtube

 
  I felt terrible because I ruined my test that I've really worked hard on. So what I did was to release my stress by watching a documentary called "Boston Celtics Championship 2008". Basically, it's about basketball team called Boston Celtics winning its championship. Not only that, but Boston Celtics became a team that completed the largest turnaround in the league history. (24-58 record turned into 66-16 record in the following year) I watched this video because I thought this documentary will make myself feel better.

  Boston Celtics used to be one of the most successful franchise in sports history. They won 16 championships until 1986, and until then, people called 1960s, 1970s, 1980s the Boston Dynasty of NBA. However, after big 3 Robert Parish, Kevin Mchale, and Larry Bird left the Celtics as they retired or was traded, Boston Celtics became one of the worst teams in the league.

Although they had a superstar Paul Pierce, they couldn't advance to second round of the playoff. In 2006-07 season, Boston Celtics had the worst regular season record in their franchise history, which was 24 wins and 58 loss. Leader Paul Pierce and general manager Danny Ainge (former Boston Celtics) became frustrated about their results.

 GM Danny Ainge had three on one trade to get Ray Allen (currently leading in three point shot made) and rookie Glen Davis from Seattle Supersonics, and five on one trade for former MVP Kevin Garnett of Minnesota Timberwolves. So basically Boston Celtics had eight players leaving their team and three players coming in. Everyone thought that this trade was never going to happen. However, it was possible because both Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were eagering to win a championship. I thought that General Manager Danny Ainge's action was decisive. He was not afraid that he would fail, but he was courage enough to make this unbelievable trade happen.
 

 There were not much impact on regular season except that all the players and fans seemed happy compared to the previous season. However, the playoff was dramatic.
Nobody doubted that Boston Celtics will cruise to the NBA Finals.

In the first round, Boston Celtics won two games in their home, but people were surprised as they lost two games in away. Boston won game 5 in their home, but lost game 6 in Atlanta. Boston won game 7 by using home court advantage.

In the second round, Boston and Cleveland went back and forth, eventually Boston barely beating Cleveland in game 7.

In Conference finals against Detroit, they went back and forth again, but this time, they won in the away court first time in the playoff.

NBA Finals was special. Boston and Los Angeles was playing, and it was their 10th time to meet in the NBA Finals. (Last met in 1987) A lot of people were excited to see the traditional rivalry in 20 years.  The series was quite tight. They Boston and Los Angeles were tied until the game 4, but Boston Celtics won the NBA championship as they won two games in a row including 131-92 victory.

I was touched during I was watching the video. Boston Celtics seemed like they would never stand up again. However, wide vision of general manager allowed the Celtics to stand up again. During the playoffs, the Celtics faced difficult and unexpected challenges. They played 26 games in the playoff, which is NBA record. Although they struggled to get up to the finals, they eventually won the championship. It was quite thrilling to watch Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Paul Pierce who was enjoying the moment they have dreamed for entire career.
I'd like to end up with the quote that I liked the most from the video.

"The dream started when frustration turned into hope"

I thought that this is the quote that I should always remember.
When I get frustrated, I should not end up being frustrated. I believe that my moments in KMLA is part of learning how to change frustration into hope, so that I could achieve my dream or goal.