Wish It Lasted Forever: Life with the Larry Bird Celtics

by Dan Shaughnessy

Overview

From award-winning Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, an “entertaining” (The Wall Street Journal) and nostalgia-filled retelling of the 1980s Boston Celtics’ glory years, which featured the sublime play of NBA legend Larry Bird.

Today the NBA is a vast global franchise—a billion-dollar industry seen by millions of fans in the United States and abroad. But it wasn’t always this successful. Before primetime ESPN coverage, lucrative branding deals like Air Jordans, and $40 million annual player salaries, there was the NBA of the 1970s and 1980s—when basketball was still an up-and-coming sport featuring old school beat reporters and players who wore Converse All-Stars.

Enter Dan Shaughnessy, then the beat reporter for The Boston Globe who covered the Boston Celtics every day from 1982 to 1986. It was a time when reporters travelled with professional teams—flying the same commercial airlines, riding the same buses, and staying in the same hotels. Shaughnessy knew the athletes as real people, losing free throw bets to Larry Bird, being gifted cheap cigars by the iconic coach Red Auerbach, and having his one-year-old daughter Sarah passed from player to player on a flight from Logan to Detroit Metro.

Drawing on unprecedented access and personal experiences that would not be possible for any reporter today, Shaughnessy takes us inside the legendary Larry Bird-led Celtics teams, capturing the camaraderie as they dominated the NBA. Fans can witness the cockiness of Larry Bird (who once walked into an All-Star Weekend locker room, announced that he was going to win the three-point contest, and did); the ageless athleticism of Robert Parish; the shooting skills of Kevin McHale; the fierce, self-sacrificing play of Bill Walton; and the playful humor of players like Danny Ainge, Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell, and M.L. Carr.

For any fan who longs to return—for just a few hours—to those magical years when the Boston Garden rocked and the winner’s circle was mostly colored Boston Green, Wish It Lasted Forever is a masterful tribute to “the Celtics from 1982–1986 [that] is so good even fervent Celtics haters will have trouble putting it down” (New York Post).

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982169978
Publisher:	Scribner
Publication date:	11/16/2021
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	111,404
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Dan Shaughnessy is a sports columnist for The Boston Globe, as well as the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Francona and author of The Curse of the Bambino. When not writing, Mr. Shaughnessy can often be found at a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. He has been selected as Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year fourteen times and he lives with his family in Boston.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 "We Ran People Off the Floor" 5

2 "Accepting Those Beers Would Make Him Beholden to You" 17

3 "Chief Just Had a Disdain for Your Ass" 35

4 "The Worst Feeling I've Ever Had Playing Basketball" 61

5 "Ever Notice How Quiet It Gets in Here All of a Sudden When You Walk In?" 71

6 "We Played like Sissies" 91

7 "No More Layups" 107

8 "I Was Traded for a Dead Man" 121

9 "That Guy Is Gonna Be the Greatest Player of All Time" 139

10 "I Like This Coach" 163

11 "Obviously, I Joined the Right Team" 179

12 "I'm Not Drinking the Rest of the Season" 191

13 "A Little Bit of a Letdown When It Ended" 211

14 "I Got a Teammate Who Needs a Hug" 219

Acknowledgments 225

List of Sources 227

Index 229

Editorial Reviews

09/13/2021

Boston Globe sports columnist Shaughnessy (At Fenway) recalls his time covering the extraordinary rise of the Boston Celtics in the 1980s in this less-than-extraordinary account. Shaughnessy—who grew up during the team’s dynastic championship run in the ’50s and ’60s—was assigned by the Globe to report on the team in 1981, two seasons after Larry Bird joined the squad and established himself as a superstar, securing the franchise another title. Shaughnessy became friendly with team members—even earning the nickname “Scoop”—and fondly recalls his time going for beers and shooting baskets with Bird. Utilizing his access to the players and coaches, Shaughnessy shares behind-the-scenes looks at the heyday of Bird’s time with the Celtics (which included three championships), as well as tensions between the team and coach Bill Fitch, and the bitterness engendered by business decisions that led to trades of popular players. The reporting, however, varies in depth; those expecting insights into what happened on the court won’t find many, and Shaughnessy’s self-proclaimed penchant for cheap shots—he compares an executive who made an undisputed major draft mistake to Neville Chamberlain—likely won’t endear him to readers. Even die-hards who bleed Celtic green will be underwhelmed. Agent: David Black, David Black Literary. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

11/01/2021

The latest by sports journalist Shaughnessy could be considered a companion to Leigh Montville's Tall Men, Short Shorts. Both are by Boston Globe sportswriters; both feature Celtics-Lakers duels, separated by a decade and a half; both insert the authors squarely into their stories; and both rely on well-placed insider anecdotes. Centered on the powerful Celtics teams of the mid-1980s, one might expect this to be the story of Larry Bird, Boston's transcendent star, but Bird shares the spotlight with Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Bill Walton (from whose observation Shaughnessy titled the book), and other Celtics down to the end of the bench. This, one could argue, explains their greatness. Despite putting on the floor numerous stars, they were a team, whether interacting as one on the court or enjoying themselves after the buzzer sounded. And Shaughnessy, like Montville before him, was essentially embedded with them, both a blessing (his many anecdotes) and a curse (players' feelings of betrayal when he wrote critical stories). Despite telling it like it was, Shaughnessy isn't interested in settling old scores here, and thereby holds up his place as a part of the team. VERDICT All basketball fans should enjoy this romp with one of the NBA's all-time great teams.—Jim Burns, formerly at Jacksonville P.L., FL

Library Journal

2021-10-13
A veteran Boston-based sports journalist writes of the glory days of the Celtics.

Dubbed “Scoop” for his abilities to dig out stories no one else got, Shaughnessy, an associate editor at the Boston Globe, takes his title from an exhortation by Hall of Fame player Bill Walton. Said Walton of the Celtics in the 1980s, “You cannot overemphasize in your book how much fun this was….It was what you dream about and I wish it lasted forever.” Long since retired, Larry Bird would agree. He had a hardscrabble youth in a small town in southern Indiana, quit college and a sports scholarship, and clawed his way back into play by finding the right NCAA team and the right coach, all of which brought him to the Celtics. The team had long since served as a model for other NBA teams for its low-ego play and ethnic inclusiveness, and it took seriously an ethos about which Shaughnessy writes, simply, “Basketball is the game for everyman.” True, it’s catholic and forgiving, but basketball of the sort that Bird and teammates, such as the irrepressible M.L. Carr, played was a different matter entirely. Shaughnessy’s high point is the championship run of 1984, when the Celtics defied a powerful Los Angeles Lakers to take the crown. Throughout, the author is amiable and self-effacing, but the best parts of his book are the you-are-there accounts of the on-the-hardwood battling in a contest so fierce that Laker Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was forced into an oxygen mask to recover, “a disturbing visual for folks watching back home in LA.” Goofy and often funny, Shaughnessy’s book offers considerable insight into the making of a winning team in the hands of players whom some consider to be the greatest in the history of the game.

A treat for fans of the old Boston Celtics and for roundball fans generally.

Kirkus Reviews

Colorful, fast-paced . . . Wish It Lasted Forever packs the stat sheet with entertainment from the Celtics’ glory years: Shaughnessy always leads the league in shots taken, but here he also provides plenty of rebounds, assists, and stolen laughter. Wish It Lasted Forever is an insider’s look into the outmoded culture of the game.”
—The Boston Globe

"In Wish It Lasted Forever, Mr. Shaughnessy seemingly empties out his old notebooks. Fortunately, they’re good notebooks, and the book is an entertaining read."
—Ben Yagoda, Wall Street Journal

“Ought to be high on your list...Dan Shaughnessy’s memoir of covering the Celtics from 1982-86 is so good even fervent Celtics haters will have trouble putting it down.”
—New York Post

"Take a seat on the bus, kids, with Larry and Kevin, Chief and Max, DJ and K.C., and Danny and Red and Bill Walton, too. Wish It Lasted Forever is retro gold. This is a special book about a special time. Terrific.”
—Leigh Montville, former Senior Writer at Sports Illustrated

"Throughout, the author is amiable and self-effacing, but the best parts of his book are the you-are-there accounts...Often funny, Shaughnessy’s book offers considerable insight into the making of a winning team in the hands of players who some consider to be the greatest in the history of the game. A treat for fans of the old Boston Celtics and for roundball fans generally."
—Kirkus Reviews

“This is the story of a great team, rendered in an immersive style. It’s also a writer’s coming of age story. Looking back on that team and time, it was Bill Walton who said, ‘I wish it lasted forever.’ He was speaking for the scribe as well.”
—Bob Costas, 28-time Emmy Award-winning sportscaster

"The best books are built on great reporting, great access, and great writing—access often being the toughest part of the equation. Dan Shaughnessy's new book has it all. Enjoy it."
—John Feinstein, New York Times bestselling author of A Season on the Brink and coauthor, with Red Auerbach, of Let Me Tell You a Story

“In Dan Shaughnessy’s wonderful book you will encounter exchanges that could never happen today. What I’m here to say is: Wish It Lasted Forever brought back untold pleasant memories of what could only be termed a Lost World. You’ll wish this book lasted forever.”
—Bob Ryan, former Boston Globe columnist, Four-Time National Sportswriter of the Year and coauthor, with Larry Bird, of Drive

“A fantastic read....In its combination of off-court camaraderie and on-court intensity, Shaughnessy’s epic ode to the Bird-McHale-Parish Celtics evokes both Cheers and Hoosiers.”
—Mike Barnicle, Senior Contributor to Morning Joe and former columnist for the New York Daily News, Boston Herald, and Boston Globe

“Peels back the curtain on the pulsating Celtics teams of the 1980’s with insight, candor and brashness...A revealing account.”
—Jackie MacMullan, coauthor, with Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson, of When the Game Was Ours

“A book that brings to life those wonderful nights when Larry Bird and his remarkable teammates reminded fans around the country of how strongly Celtic Pride can coax the best from players. Dan Shaughnessy understands what attracted guys like me to the game.”
—Bob Cousy, MVP, 13-time All Star, member NBA Hall of Fame

“You will devour this book, even if you’re too young to have experienced, as they were happening, these indelible moments from one of the greatest eras in basketball...Incredible stories.”
—Abby Chin, NBA Broadcaster, Celtics Courtside Reporter

“Dan Shaughnessy has long been an insider and has great knowledge of the game, which is on display in this look back at teams I played on. He has irritated the hell out of me but has entertained me at the same time.”
—Cedric Maxwell, Boston Celtic 1977-1985, MVP of 1981 NBA Finals

"Another book on Larry Bird? Yes, and it's delicious.”
—Lesley Visser, Hall of Fame sportscaster

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