♥️ Boston for life!

Good Morning, Boston.

On this day in 1982 … Larry Bird (19 points, 12 rebounds, five assists) was so good in the NBA All-Star game that he was named MVP before the game was over — and the score was 120-118 (in favor of Bird’s Eastern Conference squad) with 17 seconds left. Even sweeter: Lakers rival Magic Johnson bricked the game-tying layup at the buzzer. To think we used to have real All-Star games …

WHAT’S ON TAP TODAY:

Malcolm Butler’s big play remembered

An Eagle-eyed buyer for Celtics?

Brockton Rox, batter up!

LET’S GET INTO IT…

LEADING OFF

“One of us”

Some guys leave Boston, but Boston doesn’t leave them. Playing with one team for your entire career is the dream for most professional athletes. Sadly, the business of sports makes that tough, and for every Yaz, Bergy, or Bird — there are countless favorites who had to leave town. But that doesn’t mean Boston fans (or players) abandon them. With several former Patriots, including David Andrews’ good pal Joe Thuney, playing in next weekend’s Super Bowl, here are some of the few guys we kept cheering for — no matter where they end up.

Tom Brady. Duh. Patriots fans largely stuck with the “GOAT” when he left for Tampa Bay in 2020 and won his seventh Super Bowl, and he received a touching welcome when he returned to Foxborough in 2021 (and beat New England for good measure). Even if his exit and retirement announcements created mixed emotions around here, No. 12 remains a legend in these parts. Don’t expect that to change, even if Brady rips New England’s O-line the next time he calls a Pats game for Fox. 

Mookie Betts. Red Sox fans (and the entire Boston sports sphere) still haven’t gotten over the Betts trade in 2020. The 2018 AL MVP and World Series champion continues to speak fondly of his old team and got a standing ovation when he returned to Fenway Park in 2023. You know how hard it is to get Bostonians to root for a guy playing for an LA team? It’s gonna sting to see him enshrined in Cooperstown with an “LA” etched on his cap. 

Marcus Smart. Even if his streaky three-point shooting and occasionally irritating antics annoyed Celtics fans from time to time, you can never question the heart Smart played with and his knack for making game-winning plays in clutch moments. The ex-Boston guard got a warm reception and tribute when he returned to TD Garden last year with the Grizzlies, and hopefully it won’t be the last time C’s fans show him support wherever he ends up.

Ray Bourque. The legendary Bruins defenseman never hoisted a Stanley Cup with Boston despite playing 180 playoff games here. But when he finally won the Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001, he brought it to City Hall to celebrate — and 20,000 fans joined him. As much as it ticked off Harry Sinden, Bostonians treated Bourque winning a title like they had won it. That’s real love.

BOSTON SPORTS

Quick hits & headlines

Watch Matt Patricia break down Malcolm Butler’s Super Bowl INT. His chat with Julian Edelman about Butler’s stunning pick, which celebrates its 10th anniversary tomorrow, and the sequence of events leading up to it is pure gold. This play deserves its own documentary for what it meant to the Patriots franchise and for the unheralded rookie. 

Report: Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie makes Celtics bid. The Ringer’s Bill Simmons says Lurie, a Boston native, is among the top prospective bidders for the Boston Celtics. If Lurie ran the C’s like he does the Eagles, who are in the Super Bowl again and draft better than almost any NFL team, expect a few more banners to go up in TD Garden.

Alina Müller puts her best “Fleet” forward. The Boston winger earned PWHL First Star of the Week honors by tallying four points in her last two games, including lighting the lamp for the first time this year last Wednesday against the Toronto Sceptres. Apparently, playing on ice doesn’t mean you can’t be on fire.

Boston’s indoor golf club goes viral. The Rory McIlroy-led Boston Common Golf Club fell, 4-3, to Tiger Woods’ Jupiter Links crew in their TGL debut in Florida this week. But the theatrics  from the overtime contest has the sports world buzzing. Indoor golf with the world’s best players mic’d up and chirping each other between shots? Take my money. 

The Brockton Rox level up. The team’s new ownership group, led by Red Sox legend Jim Rice, is moving the squad up from a collegiate team to a pro outfit with the Frontier League. If those Fenway ticket prices are too high for you, Campanelli Stadium might be the place to be this summer. A 1-2 punch of a Rox game and Cape Cod Cafe for some bar pizza is the move.

POLL

🤔 Who’s your top Patriots Super Bowl moment?

LAST CALL

Cut the gimmicks

Dear Adam Silver: DON’T shorten NBA games. The NBA commissioner has said he’s considering reducing NBA games to 40 minutes (10 minutes a quarter) to address viewership and quality-of-play concerns, along with trying to reduce the number of 3-pointers teams take. Or, how about we just let teams play defense again instead of catering the game to lofty point totals? Also, maybe Joe Mazzulla was onto something: people might watch more games if the NBA brings fighting back.

A new “Roman” Empire?

GAME … SET … MEME

Go back to school!

Don’t get too cocky, Philly fans. Super Bowl 52 was a great win, no doubt. But the Eagles were just a speed bump along the way to the Patriots’ dynasty literally continuing the next year. Start your own, and then we can talk. (Also, please beat the Chiefs.)

🗞 That’s a wrap. I’ll still be laughing at Tom Brady trying not to eternally hate Nick Foles for nullifying his greatest performance of all time.

📲 Keep up with us @BSideSports on IG, TikTok, and X. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected].