Reactions to the first press conference

- Kevin Garnett is going to be incredibly popular in Boston. The man is not only an imposing physical presense-- the kind of person you end up staring at even when attention is supposed to be somewhere else-- but he has tons of charisma. He can talk about topics deserving intensity, emotion and reflection and none of it comes across as cliched or insincere. And he has a sense of humor. His dead-panned joke: "I want it known I have never been on a cruise in my life" was the funniest moment of a pretty upbeat event

- Paul Pierce might be a great player, but he has plenty of moments at events like this when he comes across like a fifteen year old: too many jokes that don't quite strike the right note, a little too much bravado, the sense that he's reading off a script. If Pierce spends less of the next few years in the spotlight I wouldn't be surprised if both he and everyone else is the happier for it.

- Little moments: KG shaking as he described how difficult it was to come to terms in the last few days with leaving Minnesota. All three standing for a jersey photograph, KG and Allen looking down and then turning their jerseys around so the side with 'Celtics' instead of their names shows for the cameras. Ainge talking matter-of-factly about how these three won't be a 'Big Three' until the win something, and all three listening with body language that suggests they've already had that conversation more than once.

- Garnett mentioned that when the trade talks got serious in the last few days he called Antoine Walker to find out about the city of Boston, and heard nothing but great things about both the city and the franchise. Same from Gary Payton. He apparently tried to call Pierce on all of his 'four phones' but Pierce didn't take the calls because he didn't recognize the area code.

- At several times KG looked like he was ready to lace up and go right there. When Doc Rivers made a joke about wanting training camp to start the next day Pierce and Allen laughed appropriately and KG just nodded seriously in agreement. The man will not lack for intensity.

- Whatever you want to say about Doc as a coach, it is easy to see why players love to play for him. He devoted most of his comments to talking about the players that were traded away, how sad he was to see them go, how much he wished for their future, and so on. All of it came across as very heartfelt and sincere. Listening to him it was easy to see how a bunch of college-aged kids thrown into the NBA could come to think he walked on water.

- Although a fair amount of the spotlight fell on Pierce and KG for obvious reasons, Ray Allen came across as the most mature, articulate and level-headed of the three. He was the only one to talk about the importance the members of the team (Rondo, Tony Allen, etc) who weren't at the press conference. He was the one to spend the most time talking about the importance of their learning to play together and of devoting themselves to receiving coaching well. It would not surprise me in the slightest if off the court Allen ends up becoming the biggest leader of this team. Pierce and KG both give you the sense that they would be happiest if they could always just put their heads down and play. Not so with Allen.

- Another funny moment: Wyc told the story about when he supposedly decided they had to keep Pierce and build around him, which he claimed was a night Pierce took a hard foul, hit the court, and 'lost several pieces of his teeth' on the parquet right in front of Wyc and his wife. Pierce is in the locker room for maybe five minutes and then comes back out and plays the rest of the game. The next morning he goes to the dentist first thing and doesn't miss a minute of shoot-around and practice. Wyc supposedly turned to his wife and said something like 'there's no way I'm getting rid of that guy'. The best part of this is that the whole time he's telling the story, starting with the losing several pieces of his teeth comment right at the beginning, Allen and Garnett are leaning forward looking over at him with 'are you freakin' shitting me?!' looks on their faces. Priceless stuff.

- Probably unnecessary note: I don't believe Wyc for a second that this was when he decided to keep Pierce. But far be it from me to stand between a man and a good story.