Cassell back to help Celtics defend NBA title

They'll collect the rest of their spoils before the season opener on Oct. 28 against Cleveland and LeBron James, whom Boston dispatched in the Eastern Conference semifinals in an epic seven-game series. Past Celtics greats, and NBA commissioner David Stern, are scheduled to be in attendance when another banner is raised above the Boston Garden court and the players will get their championship rings.

Then, if Rivers and the Big Three have their way, there will be no more talking about last season.

"The three of us are not going to be answering a lot of questions dealing with '08," Garnett said.

After spending part of his summer talking to coaches — many of them retired, or from other sports — who have won back-to-back titles, Rivers knows what he has to do, too.

"We need to shake ourselves out of the parade route," Rivers said. "We won because we were a hardworking team. We have to get back to that."

Also Monday, backup point guard Sam Cassell showed up for media day and signed a new contract.

Cassell had been in touch with Rivers during the summer, but the Celtics coach didn't know if Cassell had decided to come back for another season with the team until last week.

The 38-year-old Cassell joined the team in March for the playoff run, playing in 17 regular-season games before averaging 4.5 points in the playoffs.

"I think if I put it out there, no doubt about it, I could probably play somewhere else," he said. "Why would I?"