Thank you Celtics.

This post is not to talk about tonight's Game 7 loss. It is what it is. Lebron James is a very talented player and will be for years to come. So congrats to Miami. What I'm really here to talk about is the 2011-2012 Boston Celtics. Coming into the season, expectations were very high-Banner 18 or bust. That's how they have been since 2007 when KG and Ray arrived here. No one could have ever predicted what would transpire..

The first obstacle? A lockout affected schedule that would see the Celtics play countless back-to-backs and travel around the country at a dizzying pace. Then came the injuries; Paul Pierce missed time early in the season with a foot ailment. Then, we lost both Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox to season-ending cardiac issues. Couple that with major injuries to Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley, and this team was short-staffed and banged-up all year long. They scrapped & fought through many games severely undermanned.

But the C's fought through all of it. The media, the fans, opposing teams and just about everybody else counted them out. We wouldn't make the playoffs. We wouldn't get out of the 1st round if we did. We were too old, too slow, too cocky, too this & too that. Yet the 2011-12 Boston Celtics took a younger, more athletic and highly favored Miami Heat team to the brink in the Eastern Conference Finals.

I love this franchise that is the Boston Celtics, and I have the utmost respect and gratitude for this year's squad. They showed me the true meaning of trust, faith and pure, unbridled courage. I witnessed so much this year, both at TD Garden and watching from afar. I still have much to process, but right now, I just want to say thank you to the 2011-12 Boston Celtics for all they've done for the city of Boston, all their devoted fans around the world and me personally. Ubuntu.

-KWAPT