In today’s NBA, there are countless media outlets following each team, and the number of full-time beat writers has never been greater. But oddly, the level of access for such reporters, while broader than it has ever been, is also much less in-depth than it once was.
For the most part, the level of access to teams reporters have now compared to the last era of dominance of the Boston Celtics prior to their last title is comparatively shallow, with most of us forced to rely on the access we can get. But during that era, the Boston Globe’s Dan Shaugnessy covered the team in the 1980s featuring Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish, he would fly with the team — and drink with them after games.
You can imagine how these kinds of experiences flavor the reporter’s workday in a very different manner than they do today, with the press — and Shaugnessy — having plenty of Birds-eye views (pun intended) to the peak of Larry Legend’s powers.
Watch the video embedded above to hear NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg talk turkey with Shaugnessy on what it was like to cover Boston in those days, and which such tales made into print in his new book detailing that moment in Celtics sports history.
This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!