Twenty years ago, Dana Barros remembers sitting down late at night after another brutal Celtics loss in an era full of brutal Celtics losses. Though memory has faded through the years, Barros believes he flipped on the television to rewatch Boston’s last-second loss to Toronto.



Despite nearly perfect defense from Adrian Griffin, Vince Carter drilled a 3-pointer as time expired to beat Barros’ Celtics, 96-94.



Barros was on the injured list at the time dealing with back spasms, but intended to inspect the film to learn what he could from his team’s 34th defeat that season. The guard ended up seeing, for the first time, the rant that has stuck with Rick Pitino ever since.



“Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans.”



Pitino was in his third season coaching the Celtics. He was nearing the end of a tenure that began with high hopes of reviving Boston basketball but ended with a long list of...