Last month, Celtics basketball boss Danny Ainge said he hoped Pierce would not play for USA Basketball. "I'd like to see him make a 100 percent commitment to the Boston Celtics," said Ainge, who felt that Pierce, who missed 35 games this season because of injuries, needed the summer to work on his rehabilitation.

Beneath the Uncle Nellie veneer, there is an old, aloof Celtic who believes you cannot possibly know more about the game than him.

There is the aging veteran who once drank a former teammate under the table, until the kid was ill equipped to take Nelson's starting job during his last Celtics training camp. Steve Kuberski could slog, but not like Nellie. "First of all, I liked beer," Nelson said, remembering the story. "And, well, I could probably drink more than the rookies could."

While coaching the Knicks for an abbreviated 59 games in 1995-96, Nelson told me a story involving John Starks. He said a fan approached the former Knicks guard after a game and asked him to sign a pennant for his brother. "His name is Marc. Marc with a 'C.' "

When the fan got the pennant returned, Nelson said, it read, "To Cark." Marc with a "C," get it?

Nellie delighted in telling that story, prefacing it with, "This is how stupid John Starks is." He wanted Starks traded and was prepared to give up any information that might lead to that end.

The following failed to make the cut: Elton Brand, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Pau Gasol and Jermaine O'Neal.
In Pierce's defense, he was bound and gagged on the bench in accordance with the Celtics enhancing their lottery prospects.
The Celtics tanking another one is a long way from Havlicek or Bird stealing the ball.