Rebuilding a Rivalry

How does it feel being a fan of one of the best franchises of all time, knowing that they’re going to be a lottery team?

TA: It’s certainly a weird feeling. After experiencing 6 straight years of the playoffs it’ll be weird going back to the lottery. My first lottery experience didn’t last very long and while I don’t anticipate a replay of the summer of 07, I’m very excited to get to watch this team grow and see how Ainge maneuvers pieces and gets this team back to where it was before. Watching the Lakers from afar has giving me a sort of adversarial respect for the franchise but I can’t say I won’t relish seeing them endure the same process as Boston.

CC: It’s really weird not having any expectations at all about either team, especially after last summer with the Lakers. It’s nice knowing that the Celtics — a hated rival — will be doing just as bad, or worse. Whenever Celtics fans try to troll me, I can come right back with something of my own (think Gerald Wallace or Kris Humphries). It’ll be interesting to see how the fans react to both teams not being up to their regular standards. Will the fans come together? Will they hate each other more? Will fans abandon the team? It’ll be interesting to watch.