Back to the future: Deep 3 Thoughts by Jeff Clark

For those that are old enough to remember SNL when you actually had to stay up late to watch it. I hope you recognize the title reference to “Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy.”

Kicking things off with my daily musings, I’m going to answer this wonderful question from Katahdin: If you could go back in time and bring one former Celtic onto this team, who would you choose and why?

First of all, I had a vision of Bill Sy and myself jumping into a phone booth and traveling back in time to nab Celtics greats and bring them to the present day. Say it with me now “Excellent!”

Secondly, my goodness, there are so many choices that it is impossible to narrow it down to just one. So I’m going to do 3, with a long list of honorable mentions.

Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images

Heartbreak category: If I could bring back Reggie Lewis just to have him back in this world it would be worth it even if he never scored another point. Same goes for Len Bias.

Guards: We already have Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, but imagine adding KC Jones, Dennis Johnson, or Marcus Smart to that mix as well? Nightmare fuel for opposing guards (and bigs for that matter).

Wings: Brad Stevens mentioned getting a big wing. Granted, he was talking about the back end of the roster and these guys would be completely over-qualified for the job (which would make roles and responsibilities a little weird) but I can’t go through this exercise without mentioning John Havlicek, Paul Pierce, and of course Larry Bird.

Bigs: We’ve seen what kind of curveball Porzingis provides with his posting up. It is a different game these days, but I could still see Kevin McHale dominating down low with his array of moves. Continuing the theme of 3 per category, you can’t go wrong with adding Dave Cowens and Bill Walton to the mix.

And now for my top 3. To fit on this year’s team, you have to buy into the team concept while simultaneously being supremely confident in your own abilities.

Dana Barros: This is always my default answer to the question of “what non-star would you add to this team?” I’m going a step further and adding him to my top 3 even including stars. He was just an amazing 3 point shooter that was ahead of his time. In today’s game he’d be even more of a weapon. (Of course I might be biased here because Dana was the first NBA player I ever met. Met him at a basketball camp when I was in high school.)

Kevin Garnett: When I think of superstars willing to sacrifice, I think of KG and the next guy on this list. They are the ultimate examples of the Ubuntu attitude. Garnett could do anything on the court and in today’s game he might even have taken an additional step back to become an amazing 3 point shooter too.

Bill Russell: I mean, what else is there to say? Again, I’d want Bill around the team even if he never touched a ball. But his heart, mind, and skill on the court is the ultimate winning element in basketball. Miss you Bill.

Feel free to give me a hard time in the comments about who I forgot and snubbed.

Great start to the mailbag questions, thanks Katahdin! Ask me more here.