The Basketball Gods Have Spoken

I have never liked the Celtics so I'm feeling good that they were finally eliminated last night. But a certain degree of satisfaction comes from the idea that the Celtics collusion with Marbury was not rewarded.

Not too long ago, stories were floating around that someone in the Celtics organization had put the bug in Marbury's ear that if he were released by the Knicks he could join a Celtics championship squad which is exactly what happened.

Now I was never a Marbury hater but there was no excuse or explanation for his behavior this season except to put it in the context of this alleged Celtics collusion story. This probably didn't qualify as organizational tampering but nonetheless, Marbury was playing the Knicks as if he had an ace up his sleeve all the while professing his love for the team.

In any case, the Knicks have been getting dumped on for years by this league and by sports fans everywhere because the Knicks are the one NY sports team that hasn't produced consistent winners. This "dumping" has taken on many forms with the worst being the trading of injured or impaired players with brutally bad contracts to the Knicks where their short-comings are immediately exposed and their contracts become untradable assets.

So when the rumor that Marbury had a back channel escape hatch to the Celtics, my attitude changed about him. This sounded and felt like just another cheap shot at a Knicks team that has been on its knees for nearly a decade.

So today I celebrate a Celtics playoff elimination and I wish them many more. And believe me, I do know what that feels like.