The Boston Celtics were able to win their 18th NBA Championship in franchise history in what was largely a flawless night for the team in their Game 5 matchup against the Dallas Mavericks. But after the game, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck did make one large error when giving his speech to his team in a conversation with longtime ESPN on ABC sideline reporter Lisa Salters.
Salters has been a well-known figure for the large majority of her career, first starting at ESPN in 2000. This is her third time working the NBA Finals on ABC as a sideline reporter, a position previously held by Doris Burke before she made her way into the Finals broadcast booth alongside J.J. Redick and Mike Breen.
Just about anyone who is a pretty avid sports fan is very well aware of who Lisa Salters is. But Grousbeck seemingly forgot Salters’ first name in the heat of the moment, calling her “Michelle” when answering her question about the team’s high expectations throughout the season.
“Michelle, the brilliance of Joe Mazzulla is that he wouldn’t let expectations get in the way,” said Grousbeck. Joe Mazzula said there are no expectations. You have to win or die trying. Joe set a plan and he kept everybody focused. And these guys played team basketball. Great Celtics basketball. It wasn’t about expectations. It was about getting it done, banner 18.”
https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1802906760778297355
It was really a beautiful speech from Grousbeck that praised both Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla and the Celtics players who did indeed meet all the expectations the organization had coming into the playoffs.
That is except for his mistake when it came to Salter, which is a pretty big swing and a miss.
Maybe Grousbeck mistakenly saying “Michelle” was referring to former ESPN on ABC sideline reporter Michelle Tafoya, who was in Salters’ role during the last time the Celtics had won the NBA Finals in 2008. But even if that is the case, it’s still a pretty massive error considering Tafoya and Salters look nothing alike and Tafoya hasn’t worked an NBA Finals in over a decade.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.