It was Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals, and Paul Pierce was wheeled into the hallway to the locker room after landing the wrong way on his right knee — a dramatic tweak, as it turned out, that the disbelieving Phil Jackson still challenges in his dreams.
Before Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen came aboard that season with a rush of added luster, Pierce was the face of the Celtics. And so Wyc Grousbeck saw something even bigger than Pierce about to dribble down the drain.
“I’m running to the back to check on him, and I’m thinking ‘Hey, we made it to the Finals for this to happen?