Column: Celtics mini-dynasty about to reach an emotional end

I bring up the Krstic anecdote because I just read an ESPN article — an exercise in faux disagreement — about which team has less of a future: the Los Angeles Lakers or the Celtics. The writer arguing for the Celtics, Ric Bucher, had such little material to work with that he chose to emphasize the Celtics’ future cap flexibility as a major advantage. Saying the Celtics will have cap flexibility in a few years, translated into the language of truth and not ESPN controversy-speak, is another way of saying that all of their best players will be gone.

The Lakers, by contrast, will have one of the league’s best centers, Andrew Bynum, along with declining but still-effective Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. After decades of Celtics dominance, the Lakers seem poised to tie or even surpass the Celtics’ record of 17 NBA championships

Curiously, the article, though perhaps not an example of fine prose or born out of honest disagreement (Is there really anyone who thinks the Celts have a brighter future?), struck a rather emotional chord with me.

Bucher’s forced attempt at optimism helped me put a finger on why this Celtics team is so painful to watch and yet so easy to love. In short, this entire Celtics season reeks of morbidity and Irish melancholy; it is the most quintessentially Boston team in contemporary Boston sports history. The team started off strongly, raising our hopes, but has quickly collapsed just as we thought the team would get one more chance to celebrate a title.

Our two centers with the same Irish last name “O’Neal,” Jermaine and Shaquille, are somehow perpetually hurt and always on the verge of returning. We traded away our silent and lovable big man, Kendrick Perkins, the kind of guy who would always have your back in a bar fight, for Krstic and an ineffective small forward, Jeff Green.

Our best player, Kevin Garnett, said he might retire if there is a lockout next season. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce are still effective but rapidly entering their twilight years. Our point guard, Rajon Rondo, has managed to shoot worse than ever before (and before was bad enough) after his close friend Perkins was shipped away. Our coach, Doc Rivers, who helped forge the new Celtics strong collective identity, is likely to leave the team at the end of season. And, if all that was not enough, Krstic, the player acquired to replace Perkins, grabbed his knee and writhed in agony under the basket.

We Celtics fans have no future but the present. And yet, our bleak future makes the present all the more important. Years of suffering as Red Sox fans before the recent golden age of baseball in Boston have conditioned us to passionately root for this type of team. The predictable injuries, the lack of a future and the shadows of the team’s former ability keep us rooting for championship glory.

Perhaps this year will be like the last, and the Celtics will rally in the playoffs. As we watch our former defensive coach Tom Thibodeau direct the Bulls to Eastern Conference supremacy and the Lakers’ centers decimate the opposition, however, one gets the sense that the best has ended. This Celtics team will likely go down fighting in this year’s playoffs. The best we can do is enjoy the moment and show our love for the mini-dynasty coming to an end.