All rosy in the Garden for Celtics’ Ireland hero Jay Larranaga

Last Wednesday night, assistant manager Jay Larranaga sat on the bench to watch his Boston Celtics beat the New Jersey Nets by three points in an NBA season-opener.

The game was watched by 18,624 people in person — with millions more watching in on television. Just over seven years previously, Larranaga’s last game as Ireland player-coach against Luxembourg in Tallaght was watched by a couple of hundred fans at best.

But Larranaga is adamant that he wouldn’t be where he is now if it wasn’t for his time managing Ireland.