Honoring the Garden Tradition

Imagine what the final season of the Boston Garden could have been with Len Bias and Reggie Lewis. Bias would have been just 31 early in the 1994-95 season and Lewis just 28. The loss of these young stars resonated deeply in the mid-1990s as the superstars of the past retired – first Dennis Johnson, then Larry Bird, then Kevin McHale – while Robert Parish moved on to the Chicago Bulls. As it stood, the Celtics closed out the final season in the beloved arena with short-term fixtures (though still future Hall-of-Famers) Dominique Wilkins and Dino Radja, along with Dee Brown, Sherman Douglas and Eric Montross. This new Celtics team was poised to open a new chapter in the FleetCenter the following season.