11 People who turned their backs on the Celtics

Rick Pitino

Known for coaching at a high level at both the professional and collegiate levels for decades, Rick Pitino spent a brief stint with the Boston Celtics between 1997 and 2001. Hired as Head Coach in May of 1997, he racked up 102 wins and 146 losses in his tenure with the team.

With the up and down nature of his time as Celtics coach, Pitino would eventually return to the college ranks where he had more success in 2001, resigning from his job as Head Coach in Boston. Rick left the Celtics with one indelible image of himself burned into everyone's minds: the postgame scene from March 1, 2000, after his team lost to the Toronto Raptors on a Vince Carter buzzer beater.

Showing a disdain for his situation and calling out the negative nature of people in Boston, Pitino chastised the tone-deaf mindset from Celtics media members as well as fans. When asked if his team played hard enough to win, Pitino said, "Well, we've played hard the whole year. We're going to be positive every day. You're the people being negative."

Rick's comments that "Larry Bird's not walking through that door," and "Kevin McHale's not walking through that door," have become among the most iconic for any postgame rant. But his direct callout of the Celtics media and fans have still left many with a bad taste in their mouths.