Longtime NBA head coach Doc Rivers is considered a strong motivator of men, and during the 2008-09 season, he decided to employ a form of motivation to get his Boston Celtics to continue their excellence.
They were the defending world champs that season after beating the Los Angeles Lakers in the previous season’s NBA Finals, and they faced Kobe Bryant and crew on Christmas Day in a marquee game that was billed as a championship rematch.
Per Kendrick Perkins, who was the starting center on that Celtics team, Rivers had everyone pitch in $100 and put the money everyone contributed in the ceiling, and the coach told his players that in order to get their money back, they would have to return to the finals and face the Lakers.
Doc Rivers had the Celtics give up $10,000 in Staples Center 😳
“In order for us to come back and get this money, we have to meet [the Lakers] in the finals.” —@KendrickPerkins pic.twitter.com/cUiITAkF2v
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 28, 2023
Boston lost that battle versus Los Angeles, and although they would end up retrieving their dough, it would take longer than expected.
Hall of Fame forward Kevin Garnett, the leader of the team, suffered a season-ending knee injury at midseason, and without him, the Celtics lost in the second round of the playoffs to the Orlando Magic.
The following season, after a strong start, they struggled for the rest of the regular season, and it looked like they had become old and tired.
But once the 2010 NBA Playoffs started, the Celtics were revitalized, and they got past the Miami Heat, the heavily favored Cleveland Cavaliers, and Orlando to return to the NBA Finals versus who else but the Lakers.
Unfortunately for them, they pulled off an epic choke job in Game 7, blowing a 13-point second-half lead and allowing Bryant to lead L.A. to their fifth ring in the past 10 years.
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