OTISFIELD | Brian Scalabrine might be able to coexist with one O’Neal and continue his career with the Boston Celtics.
Whether or not that run as a mainstay on the NBA Eastern Conference champions’ bench and active contract talks with the team would endure the arrival of a second O’Neal—this one a lock for the hall of fame—remains to be seen.
Scalabrine, 32, played out the final minutes of his five-year, $15 million contract during the Celtics run to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Needing frontcourt depth to compensate for Kendrick Perkins’ catastrophic knee injury in Game 6 of that series, the Celtics signed 14-year veteran Jermaine O’Neal to a two-year deal this summer.
With Perkins out indefinitely due to the long rehabilitation, that might leave room for Scalabrine, a career reserve who has never averaged more than four points per game in green. But the 6-foot-9, 250-pound forward continues to hear the nagging rumors that Boston is interested an another noted wide body, Shaquille O’Neal.
In limbo and awaiting the domino effect, Scalabrine hasn’t lost his sense of humor.
“Me and Shaq’s games are really quite similar. He’s an inside player. I’m an inside player. He’s 360. I’m 250,” said Scalabrine, the expression on his face hardly changing. “I don’t know, if they had to make that choice that there’s only going be room for one 360-pound center, I feel like they could do both. They could have me and him.”
The free agent was in Maine for what has become his annual appearance at Seeds of Peace, the lakeside, international youth camp.
Often the most decorated professional athlete to appear each summer, Scalabrine conducted an informal sports camp Thursday as part of a star-studded lineup.
While soccer great Mia Hamm taught skills to the teenagers with her husband, former Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, providing support, Scalabrine stood tall on the adjacent basketball courts.
His cohorts included four-time Olympic gold medalist Teresa Edwards and incoming NBA rookies Xavier Henry of Kansas (Memphis Grizzlies), Scottie Reynolds of Villanova (Phoenix Suns) and Brian Zoubek of national champion Duke (New Jersey Nets).
“Nomar and Mia, they’re definitely changing the dynamic of this. Teresa Edwards, as well. We have some big stars here,” Scalabrine said. “It’s not hard to sell them on coming up to Maine. There’s the beautiful weather, which is gorgeous today, and just the idea of what these people are going through. In our lifetime we would love to see peace in the Middle East and peace everywhere, and that’s why we’re here.”
Scalabrine’s agent, Arn Tellem, is a Philadelphia native who developed a fondness for western Maine when he spent a summer on the current Seeds of Peace grounds—then Camp Powhatan—as a youth.
Another colleague, NBA veteran Brent Barry, made the trip and convinced Scalabrine to pay his initial visit.
“Now I’ll spend four or five days up here,” Scalabrine said. “I’ll swim in the lake. It’s a good time for me to get away from Boston and the hustle and bustle of life.”
That busy itinerary includes the prolonged negotiations with the Celtics.
Scalabrine, who spent his first four seasons with the New Jersey Nets after playing at the University of Southern California, believes he fits into the Celtics’ veteran philosophy no matter whom they sign for reinforcements.
“We definitely got older (with the Jermaine O‘Neal signing), but probably our team can kind of do that. Doc (Rivers) is probably the one coach that can coach aging superstars,” Scalabrine said. “If Shaq signs, he’ll fit in well. We’ve got a lot of young guys like Baby (Glen Davis) that can go 40 minutes if those guys need games off or whatever. It’s a different dynamic, but you’ve got to remember teams are built for the playoffs. The kind of players we have will be built for the playoffs.”
Boston set a trend by bringing Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen into the fold prior to the 2007-08 season. They combined with Paul Pierce to form a Big Three that won the franchise’s 17th NBA title in their first year together.
The Miami Heat’s acquisition of LeBron James and Chris Bosh to complement Dwyane Wade has many conceding them the 2010-11 championship. Scalabrine, for one, isn’t so sure.
“I would think that in today’s day and age when you can put three guys, three studs like that together, it’s a good way to go. Now it comes down to the role players and they can build their team and see how they play,” he said. “At the end of the day, though, you have to think about it. You have to go through Boston, go through Orlando, and unless those guys can guard Dwight Howard, they need to figure out how they’re going to do that. You need to have length and size to win, so we’ll see what happens.”
For these few days, however, speculation about the season ahead and anxiety about where he will spend it melt away for Scalabrine underneath the brilliant July sunshine and blow away in the light breeze wafting through the pine trees.
“To come here and see the kids, it brings my life back to reality,” Scalabrine said. “People are going through big problems, and everything I’m going through is not such a big deal. Selfishly I do it for me just as much as I do it for them.”
Read Kalle Oake’s article and view Russ Dillingham’s photos at The Lewiston Sun Journal »