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Boston Celtics

Celtics and Payton Playing a Classic Game

Chances are that even if you’re relatively wet behind the ears you’ll have at least some recognition when I mention the game of chicken that James Dean and Corey Allen played in Rebel Without a Cause. In the film’s defining scene, Dean’s character Jim races Allen’s character Buzz off a cliff in the ultimate contest testing the machismo of the adolescents. In the end, Buzz goes down in a blaze of glory, while Jim, bruised ego and all, goes on to learn the error of his ways and along the way bags Natalie Wood and boosts the sale of under shirts by, like a billion percent. Good stuff.
Anyway, as we speak, Celtics’ Executive Director of Basketball Relations Danny Ainge and new Celtic point guard Gary Payton are involved in a similar type of game.  Payton, along with Rick Fox, a first round draft pick and cash, was officially acquired by the Celtics from the Lakers in return for Chucky Atkins, Chris Mihm and the indomitable Jumaine Jones on Monday and Payton is none too pleased about it.  

Everyone was aware of Payton’s shock and chagrin in regards to the trade when it was first reported on the sixth of August just before he was to go on a Disney cruise with his family. Upon returning from his time at sea, Payton then left little doubt of his intentions, telling the Riverside Press-Enterprise “I’ll retire before I go to Boston.” Payton added that he would be willing to be traded to Minnesota, Houston or the LA Clippers and that “it ain’t no disrespect to Boston.” None taken Gary! All joking aside, it’s not an easy task moving from Los Angeles to Boston, even if you’re a multi-millionaire. After living in Seattle for 14 years, Payton moved his family to LA this summer and his daughter was to start school next week.  Also, little trade secret here so don’t let this get out, but the winters in the Bay State can be awfully harsh.  

At a press conference on Monday at the Celtics practice facility, Ainge announced that his Plan A, B, and C was for Payton to be the starting point guard for Boston this coming season. When a reporter asked about his contingency plans in case Payton refuses to report to training camp on October 4th, Ainge cut him off and said “We haven’t even entertained any what ifs. We’re just giving Gary some time. That’s the best option we have and that’s what we’re hoping happens.” Ainge acknowledged the fact that Payton was having a hard time deciding whether to uproot his family and declared that he had no desire to apply any pressure to Payton’s uncomfortable situation.

But here’s the thing: Whether Ainge wants to admit it or not, that’s exactly what he’s doing.  Payton showed all his cards at the start and essentially said “trade me or I’ll retire.” Ainge’s response? An undeniable no.  

Ainge wasn’t even entertaining the thought of trading Payton if the hall of fame point guard came through on his threat on a hold out. Ainge said that he is “very comfortable with the players that we have” even if Payton chooses to retire and that he and the rest of the Celtic Braintrust felt they “weren’t giving up too much to take the risk of whether Gary showed up.” According to Ainge, “If Gary doesn’t show and he wants to retire, that saves us money.” Translation: “Gee, Gary, we’d hate to have you retire on us, but if you decide you need more time to work on your golf swing, we won’t have to shell out $5.4 million and we’ll just give more minutes to Marcus Banks and Delonte West. Don’t worry about us; we’ll survive. Oh, by the way, we’re not trading you.”

Now all eyes are on Payton. Will he leave all that money on the table and walk away from the National Basketball Association? Is a man who will one day be enshrined in Springfield going to let everyone’s last image of him be that of him chasing Chauncey Billups, a guy traded twice in his first year in the league and who’s played for five teams in his short career? Better yet, can Payton deal with ending his career this way, before all of his competitive juices have been used up? The money here says that while Payton may not be the hoops god that he once was with the Sonics, he’s got at least a little bit more basketball left in him and he’s not ready to throw that out the window for a nine month disruption in his family’s life.  

Of course Payton could still call Ainge’s bluff, just as Danny had done to him.  Ainge may claim to be comfortable with his roster right now, but if Payton does not show up two weeks into training camp, you may see some beads of sweat on his forehead.  At that point Ainge will have to reexamine how happy he is with his roster and whether or not he really can go into a season with just two playmakers, both of whom have only one combined year of NBA experience.

At the same time, it just seems like Ainge has the upper hand in this situation.  It is believable that Ainge is prepared to go into the season with only Banks and West manning the point if only because he could have backed out of the deal when he found out that Payton was considering retirement.  Ainge told the assembled media that, after spending time with The Glove, he realized that Payton’s retirement was “a real possibility,” and yet he went ahead and made the deal. Ainge said that after LA agreed to take Jones instead of Banks when Ainge mentioned the possibility of voiding the trade, “it became good enough to still roll the dice with Gary.” Ainge’s actions imply that he may be OK if he has to live without GP.

Who will win in this power struggle? It all comes down to which of these two is willing to get closer to the cliff before bailing out.  Hey, chicken is a dangerous game.

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