At the time, it was seen as a home run hire for the Celtics. Pitino had just won a national championship with Kentucky in 1996 and finished as the national runner-up in 1997. After a brief stint with the New York Knicks before his time at Kentucky, Pitino was finally expected to be ready to take the next step as a successful NBA coach.
“He restores credibility to our most storied sports franchise,” said one news clipping. The entire optimistic report is shown in the tweet below.
Today in 1997, Rick Pitino is named head coach of the Celtics.