It may have been a bit of exaggeration.
When the Boston Celtics hosted the Washington Wizards in early 2012, an impressive defensive play caught the eye of Celtics legend Tommy Heinsohn.
Big man Greg Stiemsma blocked a shot, then caught it, passing it ahead to teammate Rajon Rondo in a way few centers have been able to do since Heinsohn’s Celtics ruled the 1960s as the then-color commentator played with of one of the all-time frontcourt greats.
This elicited the strongest praise imaginable from Heinsohn, who compared the University of Wisconsin product to Bill Russell, said teammate and arguably the greatest big man to play the game.
“This kid has got the same timing as … Russell,” began Heinsohn.
“He gets out there, he cuts them off [and] makes them commit, and then has the quickness to get up before, and just before the ball is totally released, ” he finished.
While Stiemsma’s defensive acumen did indeed resemble Russell’s on that play, it should go without saying that while the journeyman might have shown a flash of Russell’s timing on that play, he was far from the Celtic great in almost every other way.
Boston fans hoped Stiemsma might work his way into a bigger role than the 2.9 points, 3.2 boards and 1.5 blocks per game he averaged in Boston that season, but apart from his elite rim protection, the Wisconsinite had little else to offer.
While admittedly an excellent shot-blocker, the former Badger wasn’t what the team needed going forward — though Stiemsma did manage to parlay the season (and perhaps the compliment) into a few more NBA contracts.
One of Heinsohn’s more interesting lines from many years of color commentary, this clip was a fun window into the latter years of the Celtics last contention era.
