Day: October 24, 2016

From www.nba.com

Jim Davis, owner and chairman of New Balance Athletics, was the driving force behind the idea of naming the facility after Auerbach. He and Auerbach developed a deep relationship that dated back to the early 1980s.

“Over the years, we became friends. He was my mentor,” Davis said. “I marveled at the respect and admiration his players had for him.

“He was a master of teamwork. He was a master of inspiration,” he continued. “He was able to inspire a good, average player to perform at levels they never dreamed of obtaining.”

Davis, New Balance and the Celtics all understand that such teamwork and inspiration are born and bred on the practice court, and that they are keys to championship success.

“The banners might get raised down at the TD Garden when we win them,” said Gotham, “but they’re won on the practice court.”

The team’s new practice courts will be located inside a facility that will span approximately 70,000 square feet and place the Celtics ahead of the curve in terms of preparation, training and rehabilitation. The building will feature a 40-foot glass wall that will be highly visible to the hundreds of thousands of weekly commuters who pass by on the Turnpike.

“It will have 17 (championship) banners hanging there, visible to all,” Grousbeck said, “… with room for more.”

The Celtics have been practicing at their current facility in Waltham, Mass. since February of 1999. Mayor Marty Walsh is one of many Bostonians who is excited to end that streak and bring the team’s practice sessions back into its home city.

“Soon, they won’t just be winning in our city, but they’ll be practicing in it as well,” he said.

Davis added, “Thank you for being here today to celebrate the groundbreaking return of the Boston Celtics to their rightful home in the city of Boston – where they belong.”

The Celtics plan to open the Auerbach Center in the spring of 2018.

BOSTON, MA – The 17-time NBA Champion Boston Celtics and NB Development Group LLC announced today that Boston Landing, a mixed-used development in the Allston-Brighton neighborhood of Boston, will become the home of the Celtics’ new world-class practice and training facility.

”We are proud to team with New Balance Development in the creation of a best-in-class athletic training and practice facility that will provide Celtics players, coaches, and training staff with the resources, technology, and programming to compete at the highest level in an increasingly competitive NBA landscape,” said Rich Gotham, President of the Boston Celtics. “The Boston Landing location will bring us closer to our game day home at the TD Garden while providing high impact brand visibility.”

The Boston Celtics practice facility will be the latest dramatic element at Boston Landing — at 55 feet in the air cantilevered out to the edge of the Mass Pike. The Celtics new practice home, including the team’s 17 NBA championship banners, will be highly visible from the Massachusetts Turnpike with a forty foot glass wall enclosing the practice courts that face the approximately 130,000 daily commuters. The practice facility will encompass approximately 70,000 square feet.

“We are thrilled to welcome the Boston Celtics to Boston Landing,” Jim Halliday, Managing Director for NB Development Group LLC. “Adding another iconic brand like the Boston Celtics to Boston Landing at Allston-Brighton along the Mass Pike further advances the concept of Boston Landing serving as the gateway into the City of Boston from the west, while at the same time adding to the culture of health, wellness, and movement with this district.”

Features of the comprehensive practice facility will include:

• Two state-of-the-art parquet floor basketball courts where the team will practice
• Leading edge audio-visual technology throughout the facility
• Expanded strength and conditioning, training, and recovery facilities
• Best-in-class locker rooms and players’ lounge
• Physical therapy areas including hydrotherapy pools
• Sports science and nutrition facilities
• Expanded media work room, press conference and broadcast facilities
• A flexible hospitality area for guests and hosting community relations activities
• Work space for the team’s coaching and basketball front office staffs

Days like this I’m ok with summer being over…just for a minute anyway.  I can’t get enough of how gorgeous some of our back roads are right now.  Water color image created by my Brushstroke app that some of you asked about.

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