"I was the last link to the Big Three," said Dee Brown, who played for the Boston Celtics from 1990-98.

Brown arrived in Boston, just in time to witness the end of the Bird-Parish-McHale glory years.

He stayed long enough to see a proud franchise crumble around him.

Introduced as the Armor coach Wednesday, Brown feels those tough lessons serve him well now.

He knows, as my English teacher used to say, that life ain't easy.

"I saw how hard guys worked. You see a player like Larry Bird, trying to be the best, and a rookie will notice that," Brown said.

Brown and Bird were teammates for two years. Brown later became the Celtics captain. In the mid-90s, that was like being named manager of the Kansas City Royals, as much a sentencing as an honor.

Not only was the team headed to nowhere, it was competing hopelessly against the franchise's own rich past.

Brown tried, but it wasn't easy.

"I wasn't drafted to carry the torch," he said. "It had gone from Cousy to Russell to Havlicek to Bird.

"It was supposed to go to Len Bias and Reggie Lewis. It wasn't supposed to go to Dee Brown."

Brown still has some fond memories of the Celtics . Draft Day in 1990 remains one of his proudest moments.

"You're hearing your name called out by Red Auerbach, the patriarch, who is saying 'I want you,' " he said.

"Red was like a father figure to me."

But Red was aging, and so was the team. In successive years from 1992-94, the Celtics lost Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish - as well as Lewis, who died in 1993.

Through no fault of Brown's, the Celtics went from 56 wins in his first full season in Boston to 15 in his last.

In Springfield, however, he will not be expected to carry the torch. Here, he will light it for a team whose history starts now.

"In the D-League, you don't have to impress scouts from 30 NBA teams, only one. But you never know which one will be watching, so you have to give it your all, every day," Brown said.

Rather than put New England behind him, Brown can't wait to settle back in. His message is one he knows his D-Leaguers, with their eyes trained on the NBA, will need to hear.

"I was a draft pick, but I was not a big name," Brown said. "I had to work hard to get there and stay there. So will they."

Ron Chimelis can be reached at rchimelis@repub.com