Amos Barshad of Grantland writes of the changes brought by THE TRADE this summer, on the Celtics, the Nets and the two protagonists of the off-season drama: Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. It is a great read.
Although the piece is Celtic-centric, it lays out how things happened and what the consequences have been --so far-- on the two organizations, including that the two franchises have become intertwined with the Nets becoming the Brooklyn Celtics and Celtic fans rooting for the Nets against hated rivals in New York and Miami.
In one telling description of how the trade affected the Nets, Barshad writes of the preseason game with Detroit:
But if the Nets suddenly have a pulse, we know who gets the credit. There's Kevin, enthusiastically slapping a butt in warm-ups for no discernible reason. There's Paul, exploding off the bench late in the Pistons game to cheer a meaningless Mirza Teletovic 3. Their presence has ignited championship talk, and they've vowed to shape, mold, and cajole the talent around them into Finals material. In other words: These two never shut up.
For now, all eyes are on them. For now, that's a good thing. After the game, the beat writers huddle around their lockers, and Brook Lopez is excused from press commitments. That would have been a rare treat in Lopez's past seasons with the Nets. "Man, I like having KG and Paul around," he shouts to no one in particular. "I like this."
He writes as well about people who've been affected by the trade, particularly Celtic fans, including this passage:
One evening in the Barclays press seats, I talk to a reporter, a young woman whose family is from Lebanon and who grew up in Ottawa hating hockey and loving the Celtics. See, in the true tradition of scrappy immigrant git-'er-done, some cousin or friend had set up for the family a jury-rigged satellite dish that, for no particular reason, received Celtics home broadcasts. A guy crossed the green wires with the red and this girl spends the rest of her life knowing Havlicek's scoring record.
We know this person and her travails.
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The beginning of a strange new season for the Celtics and the Nets - Amos Barshad - Grantland