It's a tradition unlike any other, and no, it's not the Masters.

Generations of fathers have been taking their sons and/or daughters to Boston Celtics games and pointing to the rafters. With every banner, there is a story to be told.

Some fathers have pointed to the 1963 banner and spun yarns about Bob Cousy's last season with the Celtics and John Havlicek's first.

Or they've pointed to the 1969 flag and told the story of Bill Russell and Sam Jones defying age and literally bursting the balloons in the L.A. Forum for the last world title in the most dominant decade American professional sports has ever known. No doubt, the 1976 banner has inspired someone to recall "The Greatest Game Ever Played," Game 5 of the Finals against Phoenix.

My banner of choice when I took my son to see the Celtics play this past March was from 1986, still my favorite team ever. I couldn't possibly tell him everything I remember about that season within the confines of a 48-minute game. So I just gave him the Cliff's Notes version - Sampson/Sichting brawl included, of course.

It is what separates this championship from the five others New England sports fans have enjoyed in the past six-plus years. There is no other franchise in these parts where every generation, from the Baby Boomers on down, has a title, and a team, they can call their own.

Our sons and daughters are now assured of carrying on the tradition. But I do not envy them having to summarize Banner 2008 quickly enough to hold the attention span of anyone under 18.

No. 17's Cliff's Notes would go something like this - moribund franchise bordering on irrelevance gets burned in the Lottery yet again... GM and coach on the hot seat while star player is on the verge of demanding a trade... Danny Ainge makes bold deals for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, Doc Rivers and Garnett hold everyone accountable on defense...team gets off to quick start and rarely slows down, clinches home court advantage but struggles through first two rounds of playoffs...team hits stride against Detroit and swamps a heavily-favored L.A. Lakers team in six games, including the greatest comeback in NBA history in Game 4...Everyone finds their redemption.

Oh, and Gino. You've gotta talk about Gino.

With the remarkable turnaround as the dominating theme, this season will go down in NBA annals looking like a bolt right out of the blue. Anyone who has paid attention since the "Ubuntu European Vacation" in preseason knows that doesn't do this season justice.

Allen's story became so compelling that the star of "He Got Game" might have a movie made about his own life. After wallowing in relative anonymity in NBA outposts such as Milwaukee and Seattle, he was traded to Boston and, more than any of the "Big Three," asked to sublimate his own offense for the good of the team. He still made a couple of game-winning shots and ended up on the All-Star team, where he nearly stole MVP honors from LeBron James.

Then the playoffs started and his jump shot went haywire. People were openly wondering whether he was done, but then in the finals, he raised his game to a new level and was arguably the MVP through the first four games. Then his son fell ill and, prior to Game 5, was diagnosed with diabetes. Allen stayed with his son in an L.A. hospital, then took a red-eye back to Boston just in time for Game 6, where he drained a record seven 3-pointers.

Desperate to play for a winner, Garnett initially refused to even consider Boston. But then when Ainge dealt for Allen, a light went on, the green light for a deal (thanks, Kevin McHale), and in what seemed like an instant, the new Big Three were standing together posing for pictures holding their Celtics jerseys.

Garnett not only brought the three stars together, but the entire team, under the Bill Russell Tent of Defense, and almost single-handedly changed the culture of the franchise. He was showered with MVP chants on a nightly basis in the TD BankNorth Garden, but questions lingered about his ability to produce at crunch time, even as he averaged a double-double through the finals. It all came together in Game 6 with an inspired 26-point, 14-rebound performance, and even Michelle Tafoya couldn't ruin the moment as the emotions came gushing out in a poignant post-game celebration. In one night, we saw a man claim his rightful place among the all-time greats, or as he put it in his incoherent interview with Tafoya, "I am certified."

Paul Pierce is now certified, too, as a Celtic legend. Eight years after a brush with death resulting from 11 stab wounds and coming off of a injury-riddled 2006-07 season, he finally got his shot at a ring and made the most of it.

Maligned for much of his career as just a scorer or as merely good player on bad teams, Pierce used the talents of Allen and Garnett to showcase his all-around game. Fines for "menacing gang gestures" and taunts of "Faker" from Laker fans and L.A. sycophant sports columnists couldn't slow him down. He played his best when it mattered most, whether it was his 41-point performance to outduel James in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, his one-man takeover in the second half of the Game 6 conference finals-clincher in Detroit, or his stifling defense on Kobe Bryant in the second half of the Greatest Finals Comeback Ever. He outplayed the alleged "Best Player on the Planet" in every facet of the game, won the finals MVP as a result, and, at long last, got to bask in the adoration of a fan base and city that took too long to accept him.

One can go on and on, about Rajon Rondo, who grew up before our very eyes and played the game of his life in Game 6 and left us to salivate over how good he will eventually be. About Kendrick Perkins, who did the grunt work inside and provided the muscle to back up Garnett's passion. About the bench, which Ainge seemed to assemble on the fly, led by the irreplaceable James Posey, the irrepressible Leon Powe, the indomitable of spirit Eddie House (how many DNP's did this guy have again?) and the ultimate pro, P.J. Brown, without whom we would likely be lamenting a seventh-game loss to the Cavs today.

There are so many other stories to tell about this season. What about Rivers taking KG, Pierce and Allen on a Duck Boat ride before the season to let them taste what Thursday's parade would be like?

What about "Ubuntu?"

What about the "new" Garden finally getting a chance to show it's a worthy successor to the old one in terms of spine-chilling home court advantage?

What about Rivers coaching circles around Phil Jackson in the Finals?

What about the fact that the last game they played, the 108th game of the season (not counting the preseason, which included a trip to Europe), was easily the best they played all season?

All topics worthy of further discussion, and if my son doesn't watch out, I'll be telling the story of the 2008 Celtics to my grandchildren before he gets the chance.

Randy Whitehouse is a staff editor. He can be reached at [email protected]

http://www.sunjournal.com/story/270876-3/LocalSports/Greatest_story_ever_told/