Kite Rises to Take 9 Important Rebounds : Backup Center Gives Boston Some Badly Needed Muscle and Defense

Nike will never name a basketball shoe after Greg Kite.

“Greg don’t have a lot of talent,” said Celtic star Larry Bird.

Kite, the Boston Celtics’ 6-11 reserve center, plays more like an old plow horse than a thoroughbred.

“My style is ugly,” Kite said. “It’s not something that kids in the schoolyards are going to imitate, like they do Michael Jordan.”

But Kite was the unlikely hero as the Celtics swept aside the Lakers dream of a four-game sweep with a 109-103 win in Game 3 of the National Basketball Assn. finals Sunday afternoon.

Kite didn’t score a point, but he had a big impact on the game.

Kite came off the bench to grab a career-high nine rebounds, including five on offense, and he helped to slow down center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Laker fast break. Kite also made a big block of a shot by Magic Johnson in the third period.

“Kite didn’t score a point?” asked Laker Coach Pat Riley. “It looked like he had 100.”

Kite got a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 14,890 which rocked the Boston Garden and he was besieged by the media after the game. Kite held his own press conference in the front row of the Garden after the game. Kite had more reporters at his press conference than Bird did.

“The last time I got this much attention was when I was born or when I was married and all the people came through the reception line,” Kite joked. “I don’t think I’m going to get a big head from this though. My head is pretty big already.”

Kite, who earlier this season was called the worst player in the NBA by sportswriter Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe, missed all three shots he took, yet the Celtics, who were left in the dust by the Laker break in the first two games of the series, would probably never have beaten the Lakers if it hadn’t been for Kite.

“I think Greg proved Bob Ryan wrong today,” said Kite’s wife, Jenny. “It’s true he’s not the greatest player in the NBA but he does a lot of things well.”

Kite, who sat near Jack Nicholson on the Celtic bench for much of the first two games of the series, entered the game with 5:57 left in the first period Sunday after Celtic center Robert Parish picked up his second foul.

Bill Walton has been used as the first big man off the Celtic bench, but this time Coach K.C. Jones went with Kite.

“After Robert (Parish) got two quick fouls early that hurt us, so I decided to play Greg instead of Walton,” Jones said. “Greg Kite knew the plays better. He’s good at boxing out. Bill hasn’t been practicing with us much lately.”

Kite, who was drafted by the Celtics in 1983 out of BYU, proceeded to play perhaps the finest game of his pro career.

“It was the best game I’ve ever seem him play,” said Celtic guard Dennis Johnson, who had 26 points. “Don’t you know he’s the great Celtic center of the future?”

Kite helped to throw the Laker offense out of sync by annoying Abdul-Jabbar. Kite made Kareem work harder on offense by pushing him further away from the basket.

Kite got away with much of the pushing and shoving against Abdul-Jabbar, but was called for five fouls.

“He was trying to keep Kareem away from the spots he wanted and he knows you can’t give (Abdul-) Jabbar his position because he’s a lethal weapon,” Celtic assistant Chris Ford said of Kite. “I don’t think he beat up on Kareem and I don’t think he did anything to deserve fouls except when he fouled guys going to the hoop. Sometimes the referees can get caught up in who you are instead of what you’re doing.”

The Lakers, who had moved the ball crisply in the first two games, reverted to their offensive style of past years, dumping the ball into Kareem for the skyhook.

“He (Kite) pushes more; he has to do that to justify his being out there,” Abdul-Jabbar said. “Some people play like that. There’s nothing I can do about that.”

Asked if Kite had a big impact on the game, Abdul-Jabbar said, “I didn’t see the impact he made, ask him.”

Abdul-Jabbar scored 27 points, 13 while being checked by Kite and 14 while he was being guarded by Parish.

However, Kite held Kareem to just two points in the third period.

“We got a great effort out of Greg. He did a good job of sticking with Kareem,” Jones said. “Greg played a smart game. His game is boarding and playing defense.

“I liked the way Greg scrapped after the ball. He stayed with Kareem and that helped us. We needed that kind of effort. We needed someone to come in and pick us up.”

Of Kite, Bird said: “I’ve seen Greg play real well at times. He’s got limited offensive ability, but he is a banger and he is probably our hardest worker. He kept Kareem off balance and got a lot of rebounds. His work ethic finally paid off. He stayed with his game and did a real good job.

“I know he’s slow and can’t jump. He didn’t go out and try to score 20 points like I’ve seen him do,” Bird said. “Greg did a good job of rebounding, keeping the ball alive and setting picks. Who would you rather have out there, Greg Kite or Robert Parish? Today Robert Parish wasn’t in there because of fouls. Today Greg forced Kareem out a little bit and made him take his skyhook under pressure more than anyone else did.”

Kite was also instrumental as the Celtics slowed down the Laker fast break, coming up with key rebounds. Los Angeles had just 33 points off its fast break, compared to 76 points off the break in Game 1.

Said Laker forward Mychal Thompson: “Greg Kite was stopping our break all by himself by keeping the ball alive and tapping it. The Kite was flying today. He didn’t get hooked up in a tree. He was the player of the game. It was the best I’ve seen him play. He was just using that big body of his. “

Kite, who had played just 14 minutes in the first two games, played 13 minutes in the first half. He had 4 rebounds in the first half and he was in the game when the Celtics blitzed the Lakers, 30-17, in the final eight minutes of the first half.

Kite started the second half in place of Parish, allowing Parish to rest his injured ankle for most of the third period. Parish came back to score 10 points in the fourth period.

“I was surprised when I found out I was going to start the third period, but I didn’t give them a chance to think about it,” Kite said. “I didn’t want to be a tailback--’get your tail back here.’

“I’ve had big games before, but the things I did today were magnified because this was a championship game. Winning the championship in ’84 and ’86 was the highlight of my career, but this ranks right up there. I’m going to file the tape of this game away.

“I think I have an even better game in me. I missed a couple of chip shots today.”