Red Auerbach
The Celtics keep their past very close to their present. There is no organization in the NBA certainly, and perhaps nowhere else in professional sports, that has cultivated the mystique that the Celtics have.
I believe the Celtics would do themselves a disservice by negotiating over retired numbers, starting with Kevin Durant and Reggie Lewis.
If some combination of ownership and management decided that Reggie’s number could be worn again, then who exactly would get to make that call for any other number that might come along? There’s no commission in charge of Boston’s retired numbers because up till now there’s been a pretty clear understanding that ‘retired’ means ‘nobody can wear this number.