“Drew has endeared himself to his teammates as well as any captain I’ve had.”
During postgame interviews with Sullivan, Gellert was never the first person asked about, or even the second. The opening questions were and still are usually devoted to figuring out how Harvey managed to score 20 despite being double-teamed yet again.
Invariably, though, someone would turn to Gellert’s line, always indicative of a fine all-around effort, usually something to the tune of 7 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals.
On one particular day last November, Gellert had hustled after a rebound off his own missed free throw, saved it from going out of bounds and threw it into the hands of Harvey, who drained the go-ahead three.
After the press hordes had given Harvey his due for hitting the game-winning shot, an Associated Press writer remembered Gellert, almost as an afterthought, and asked Sullivan, “Hey, how about Drew’s play?”
Sullivan had recited the Drew-does-all-the-little-things speech to the press countless times before. This time, he just nodded and flashed a knowing smile.
“He’s the best, isn’t he?”