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BOSTON – TD Garden was at its typical, deafening decibel level last spring when the Celtics tipped off their postseason against the Miami Heat. Much of that noise was coming from behind Boston’s bench, where Jrue Holiday’s seven-year-old daughter JT was cheering wildly in support of her father.
Two older gentlemen were sitting right in front of the Holidays, and at one point, in the midst of JT’s screams, Jrue’s wife Lauren leaned down and apologized for the raucous.
One of the men turned back, looked Lauren in the eye, and smiled. “Don't ever apologize for that,” he insisted. “Because I was that child a long time ago.”
That child, a long time ago, was a young Michael Jones – the middle son of Sam Jones, winner of 10 NBA championships with the Boston Celtics during their dynasty days of the 1950s and 1960s.
Six decades later, he was back with his older brother Aubre, and they couldn’t have been happier to receive that nostalgic earful from JT Holiday as she cheered on her father’s pursuit of his first championship with the C’s.
“We sat in the players’ wives’ seats and screamed for our fathers just like those children did,” Michael Jones told Celtics.com. “It brought back some great memories, and I would never ask anyone's kids to stop that.”
The Joneses weren’t the only offspring of Celtics Legends in attendance that night. The children of Bill Russell, KC Jones, Tommy Heinsohn, and several others were scattered throughout the arena.
Their collective presence wasn’t a coincidence. They had assembled there on that night as friends and as Celtics family. The offspring of the original champions – the “First Flag Kids” – were there to support the eventual 2024 champions, while their fathers looked down proudly from the rafters.
As we all know, the Celtics went on to capture their 18th banner, which will be raised to those rafters Tuesday night. The same group of loyal family members – plus several green-blooded additions – will be in attendance for that ceremony, as well.
Although their fathers were great friends in their playing days, many of the kids were not. They didn’t go to nearly as many games as JT Holiday or Deuce Tatum or Ian Horford attend today, so they did not see much of each other outside of holiday parties.
Their friendships began to form later in life via social media, and that’s how their mid-April gathering came to fruition.
It all started with a Tweet from KC Jones’ daughter, Bryna.
Realizing something special was in the air with this Celtics team, the Maryland resident was determined to make it up for a game, so she posted the idea on X.
This excited Bryna’s myriad of followers, including one in particular: Karen Russell.
Bill Russell’s daughter responded to Bryna’s post with a private message via the app.
“Karen DM’d me,” Bryna recalled, “and she goes, ‘You’re going to go to a game?’ I said, ‘Yeah, we were thinking about going in April.’ And she goes, ‘Well can I come?’ So I say, “Of course you can come!”
Bryna posted a similar note on Facebook and it caught the eye of Aubre Jones, who incredibly had never been to a Celtics playoff game in his life. Aubre told Michael and the two brothers were set on coming up from Virginia and Maryland.
The elder Jones brother spread the word to his Facebook friend Paul Heinsohn, whom he had never met in person. Tommy’s son was more than happy to make the short trip up from Rhode Island.
They couldn’t all get seats together, but that didn’t stop the group from meeting up at halftime at one of the arena’s bars. As one could imagine, they had a lot of catching up to do. So much catching up that they missed the entire third quarter.
“Usually something that many of us would die to just sit and watch the third quarter,” Aubre said. “But we just sat there talking because we hadn't seen each other for such a long time.”
They told stories about their dads, but more of the talk centered around the current team.
“We are still such big Celtics fans,” Aubre said. “And all of us are so happy that they won No. 18. We all hate the Lakers. I mean that’s a basic premise of being in the group – that you have to dislike the Lakers – and having one more championship than they have means a lot to all of us.”
Aubre used to rib KC’s kids on the matter of their father joining the Lakers as an assistant coach after his playing career ended. Bryna ensures him that her family members were never Lakers at heart.
“When Dad was with the Lakers, I said we were in the enemy’s camp,” Bryna recalled. “I was six years old. I was that young knowing that we were not with the Celtics anymore. But it still didn’t feel real because it wasn’t green, it wasn’t white, it wasn’t the Celtics. It was like, we’re just visiting here. But when my dad got the assistant coach of the Celtics, he said, ‘I am home.’”
April’s homecoming couldn’t have been complete without a postgame photo on the parquet floor. It wasn’t the original hardwood that they knew as kids, but it was still sacred to them. Several of the kids gathered there along with Steve Curley, the longtime director of the Red Auerbach Basketball School, and snapped a picture that they’ll cherish forever.
“There’s not too many people that can say they've been on both parquets for the Boston Celtics,” Michael Jones said. “And the group that we were with was Karen Russell, KC's kids, Paul Heinsohn – those are the kids that have basically lived on both parquets now. And that's a big piece of history.”
Some of them continued to witness the 2024 Celtics team make history in person. Karen Russell continued to attend games throughout the playoff run. She was in attendance for Game 5 against Dallas when the Celtics won the championship and Jaylen Brown was handed the Finals MVP in her father’s honor.
Karen met up during that game to get another photo with Ashley Jones (son of Sam), Leslie and Kip Jones (son and daughter of KC), and Chuck Cooper III.
Paul Heinsohn couldn’t make it to the game, but his oldest daughter Danielle was there to witness the green and white confetti drop from the rafters. Danielle’s sister, Brooke, happened to play soccer at Duke while Jayson Tatum was simultaneously playing basketball for the Blue Devils.
Even though Paul couldn’t be there, he wanted to make sure the First Flag Kids (a phrase he coined) got together again soon. Back in April, before they parted ways after Game 1 against Miami, he insisted on hosting the group at his house for a Banner 18 barbeque later in the summer.
Dozens gathered at his Rhode Island home in August, including family of the Auerbachs, the Havliceks, the Loscutoffs, the Ramseys, and more.
They talked for hours about their dads, their moms, their kids, and of course the current Celtics.
There’s been a sort of comfort in forming and rekindling these relationships later in life. Many of them have lost their fathers in recent years, and coming together helps to keep their legacies alive.
“It is so healing,” Bryna Jones-Joyce said, “because we see our fathers in each other.”
They’ll also see their fathers in Tuesday night’s banner-raising ceremony.
“I think I’m just gonna bawl like a baby,” Bryna said. “I’m just gonna cry because all my dad’s hard work and passion for the game and passion for the Celtics and passion for NBA players in general is being lifted up to the rafters again.”
Bryna will be one of roughly 40 family members from that original dynasty group expected to attend. They’ll all be emotional, and they’ll connect through their tears of joy.
“I really enjoy their company,” said Paul Heinsohn. “They’re all really cool people and they all have a really cool perspective not only on basketball but on life because of what our dads did. So I’m looking forward to being with them, watching the game, and watching them raise the banner.”
They’ll all be cheering for their dads as the spotlight shines upon all the classic banners that Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Sam Jones, KC Jones, Tommy Heinsohn, and others stitched through their hard work decades ago.
Then, the spotlight will shine on the newest banner as it’s lifted, and the cheers of several generations will combine. The voices of Michael and Aubre Jones, Karen Russell, Bryna Jones-Joyce, Paul Heinsohn, and the rest of the First Flag Kids will join with those of JT Holiday, Deuce Tatum, Ian Horford, and all of the Banner 18 kids in support of their fathers’ immortal Celtics legacies.
They will be as loud as can be – unapologetically, of course.