Stan Van Gundy likes Celtics’ chances of making another run at NBA Finals

“I certainly think what Boston did last year is sustainable,” Van Gundy said this past week. “There were times when people criticized them, too one-dimensional, too many threes, but what sort of misses in that analysis is that team leans on their defense to win games. That is probably the best NBA roster I’ve seen. All five guys can defend. The only guy people can really go at is Payton Pritchard and he’s tough. Their top guys and their starters, forget it. Every one of them is a plus defender and there’s no one in their top eight that you don’t have to guard. I’ve never seen a team like that.”

The Knicks and 76ers added significant talent to compete with the Celtics. Van Gundy still believes the Celtics are more talented.

“I think New York and Philly are getting close to that [level], too, but because of their ability to defend, Boston can win games even when the three isn’t dropping,” he said. “They don’t need to have the ball going in from three every night to win. They’ve got a big margin for error, and it’s not like Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and Derrick White can’t put the ball on the floor and attack. Kristaps Porzingis dominated switches last year, was incredibly efficient when he rolled down and posted against switches. They are still the clear favorite. I think New York and Philly made strides but I think it is more than sustainable because that team is great at both ends of the floor. We just don’t see teams that are top-two teams both offensively and defensively. They’re going to be tough to beat.”

Van Gundy appreciates coach Joe Mazzulla’s dedication and trust in his bench.

“It always comes down to health in the postseason, but they could probably even absorb injury better than most teams,” Van Gundy said. “One of the things that Joe did great, and I think he did a lot of things really well that early in the year, is the thing I didn’t trust about the Celtics was their bench, and Joe believed in those guys in Pritchard, [Sam] Hauser, and Al Horford, and he stuck with those guys all year, and that bench developed and you could not take advantage of them even in the playoffs.”

Van Gundy was asked about the Heat. He wasn’t so complimentary about Miami, which has moved forward with mainstays such as Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, and Bam Adebayo. The Heat lost Caleb Martin in free agency and their major offseason acquisitions were Alec Burks and Nassir Little.

“I really don’t understand what’s going on there,” Van Gundy said. “They’re always a win-now team, which I respect, and they haven’t put a roster out there that has a chance. I think they got lulled into a false sense of security by the run to the Finals two years ago. It was a great run but they didn’t have a great team and they didn’t have a great year. They got off to a remarkable start against Boston. That’s not a very good roster. To me, that’s a play-in roster again.

“Obviously, if Jimmy will be able to play 70 games, maybe it’s a little different, but you look out there and compare them to the top three teams, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia, they’re not even in the ballpark. I don’t think they’re roster is as good as Indiana, Orlando, or Cleveland. Their roster just doesn’t stack up and they seem like the team to me that has been reliant on Erik Spoelstra working miracles, and you can only do that so much. It would be foolish to say they’re a contender.”

COOPER LOOKS BACK

Former Lakers standout Michael Cooper was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame 34 years after his final NBA game, and he was grateful for the honor. He played on five championship teams and his showdowns with Larry Bird and the Celtics during the 1980s were legendary.

Cooper has a wealth of basketball knowledge and stories, and he delighted the media last week.

▪ On why he wore high white socks and pulled the strings of his shorts out: “In 1974, they brought back the high school game of the week in California, and they hadn’t had it for three or four years, so this was the first game where we [Pasadena High School] were going to be on TV. My grandmother had glaucoma real bad and I was playing on TV and she couldn’t go to the game. She was going to watch, so she said, ‘Michael, you have to do something to distinguish yourself from the other players.’ So I wore my high socks high, two sweatbands, and wore my strings out. I had the game of my lifetime, I scored 24 points, had 15 rebounds and three dunks. I thought, hey, if this is going to work like that, I just stayed with that style.”

▪ On his favorite defensive performance: “The one defensive performance was in ‘82 when we were playing the 76ers and I was guarding Andrew Toney. Andrew Toney was a beast. If that young man didn’t blow out his Achilles’, you would have heard more about him. He was the original Boston Strangler because Boston couldn’t do anything with him. So when it became our turn, I thought I did a pretty good job. That particular game I thought I handled him pretty well.”

▪ On finally beating the Celtics in the NBA Finals: “My favorite championship team of all those was ‘80 because we didn’t know what we were doing and we found ourselves in the championship game and we ended up winning. But the one that touches my heart the most was 1985, and that was because growing up in Los Angeles and being a Lakers fan and watching Jerry West, Elgin Baylor, and Wilt Chamberlain, them never being able to beat the Boston Celtics. And then we got an opportunity for revenge, so it’s like eradicating all the ghosts of Lakers past that we were able to beat the Boston Celtics. Not only did we do it for our team, we did it for the whole city of Los Angeles and for all the former Lakers that couldn’t beat the Celtics.”

▪ On West saying Kobe Bryant cooked Cooper in a pre-draft workout: “My version of that story is that Kobe did not kick my ass. Second of all, I was 40-plus years old trying to guard a 19-year-old kid. I had never heard of Kobe Bryant. All I knew going into work that day was that I had to guard this young kid that we were thinking about drafting. When I got there, he was down there shooting and Jerry gave me some [orders]. Coop, keep him off the sweet spots, and he put some X’s at the elbow and low post and on the wing. Your job is to keep him away from that. He pulled Kobe aside and started talking to him and then they threw the ball up. Kobe at that early age was able to get to his spot every single time. He didn’t hit every shot, but he was able to get there, and that was the impressive thing.

“That was unusual for a young man who had never played NBA basketball and all he knows is high school and overseas, and for him to come here and work me like that, that was the thing that amazed everybody that was there. After the workout, I remember Jerry coming over and asking me, ‘Coop, what do you think?’ and through all the sweat and a couple of elbow I caught from Kobe, I was saying, he’s good Jerry, and everybody knew at that time he was going to be our player.”

▪ On his favorite Bird story: “Larry really did not talk a lot to me because I wasn’t fazed by that. It was the 1984 Finals at the Forum and he’s underneath the basket, he mumbles to me, ‘I’m getting ready to wear your ass out,’ and I got in my best defensive stance. I was digging in and he came off a Robert Parish screen and he comes up to the elbow, and I’m fighting through that screen. Dennis Johnson throws him the ball and just as it gets to Larry and he goes up to shoot, I’m saying to myself, I’m going to smack this [expletive] and Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] steps out and both of us have our hands up, and I don’t know how Larry was able to find Parish, but Parish grabs it and goes in for a dunk, and Larry turns at me and looks over his shoulder and says, ‘I told you, [expletive]!’ ”

ETC.

Perhaps overshadowed in the Hall of Fame induction was smooth-scoring Seimone Augustus, who played 14 seasons with the Minnesota Lynx, leading them to four WNBA titles as part of a squad that included Lindsay Whalen, Maya Moore, and Sylvia Fowles.

Augustus wowed the crowd at Symphony Hall in Springfield with her eloquent speech, a dedication to her native Baton Rouge, La., and her supportive family. Augustus was a teenage phenom, a can’t-miss prospect who shot 54.4 percent from the field in four years at LSU before being the No. 1 pick in the 2006 Draft.

“I came to play every day because basketball is my passion,” she said. “I felt like I was coming to play with friends. I got into a routine where I would get there an hour or two hours early for practice. There wasn’t many girls’ teams at the time, so I played with mostly co-ed teams. You could see the disgust on a lot of guys’ faces as my game was able to beat them. It was an amazing feeling to be a part of it.”

When it was apparent Augustus had a passion for basketball, her father asked her a critical question.

“I tried a number of different sports, but there was something about basketball that when I picked it up, I just had a natural knack for it,” she said. “I could dribble the ball, I could shoot the ball, I could do things that felt really easy. There was something about the essence of the game that really attracted me to it. From Day 1, his very first question when I decided this is what I wanted to do is, ‘Do you want to be good or do you want to be great?’ Every day in the yard, I was going through drills. My first VHS tape was the Pistol Pete [Maravich] tape where he was doing all these ballhandling drills and I just fell in love with the game.”

Augustus is a daughter of the early WNBA. She was 13 when the league began in 1997 with stars such as Lisa Leslie, Rebecca Lobo, Sheryl Swoopes, Teresa Weatherspoon, and Ruthie Bolton. Seeing her heroes motivated Augustus to pursue being a star.

“I didn’t have to convince [my parents] too much,” she said. “They saw how I played in the yard. I think my first game was the Houston Comets vs. the Washington Mystics with Chamique Holdsclaw. We had the nosebleed seats and I just remember having that feeling and I couldn’t explain it, I’m going to be out there one day. I’m going to be playing against one of these players at some point in time. And I actually did get a chance to play against a lot of ladies, all the people that I idolized.”

The WNBA has grown exponentially since Augustus retired before the 2021 season, and she’s closely followed her former club against the New York Liberty in the Finals. She expressed pride and support for the league’s ascension, hoping she was part of sparking the growth.

“I’m so proud,” she said. “It’s a lot of generations that came before us, trailblazers that didn’t get a chance to see the increase in visibility, the increase in brand coverage and financial needs that the girls have today. I retired in 2021 and my knees are still cracking when I get up. But for me to be able to see the young ladies get everything they deserve and then some, it’s amazing and I’m glad I’m able to see it.

“To see the Lynx finally bring the pieces together, it’s been seven years. I don’t think people understand what it takes. It’s not just the athletes and what they bring to the table, it’s actually the connections off the court. As I watch the videos they show on social media, they are joking and having a good time, all of that matters when you’re talking about building a championship culture.”

The Clippers announced this past week that All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard will be out indefinitely as he continues treatment on his ailing knee. Leonard was sent home from Team USA training camp in July because of knee issues, but he was expected to be ready for the season. He hasn’t appeared in the preseason and the Clippers will have to move forward without their best player. That means more offensive responsibility for 35-year-old James Harden as well as Norman Powell. Coach Tyronn Lue wouldn’t say when Leonard is expected to return but said it is likely to be this season. The Clippers are opening the Intuit Dome without Paul George, who signed with the 76ers, and now Leonard. Without their top scorer, the Clippers could have a difficult time competing in the difficult Western Conference . . . There are interesting names on the waiver wire as teams have to set their rosters by Monday. Former Celtic Lamar Stevens, who had a positive stint with the Grizzlies after being traded last season, was released by the Pistons. Former Hornet and Pelican Devonte’ Graham was let go by the Trail Blazers. Graham was a Most Improved Player candidate a few years ago but has bounced around the league in recent years. Several teams are likely to leave a roster spot open to nab an attractive player on the waiver wire before the season begins. The Celtics have an open roster spot and needed to make a decision about the intriguing Lonnie Walker IV by Saturday. Walker could be an attractive piece for a team looking for bench scoring . . . Former first-round pick Justise Winslow, whose career was derailed by injuries, signed a training camp deal with the Blazers and is expected to start the season with their G League club. Winslow spent last season in the G League and hasn’t played a full NBA season in five years. Former Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge was willing to part with multiple draft picks in a draft-day deal for Winslow, but the Heat selected him 10th overall in 2015 . . . Former slam dunk champion Dee Brown will be among those honored at The Tradition on Nov. 20 at TD Garden. Tickets for the annual sports awards program are available on the event’s website. The other honorees are Rob Gronkowski, Terry Francona, Brad Park, Scott Hamilton, and Dara Torres.

---

Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.