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In other words, it was by default that this fabled hardwood became one of the most legendary fixtures in the history of sports.

Sadly, even the richest traditions must end sometime.

And Wednesday night, the floor that has resided over 16 NBA championship teams was put to rest amid a joyous goodbye at the FleetCenter, a building which isn't much more than a Larry Bird desperation 3-pointer away from the old Boston Garden.

The floor with the dead spots is now dead.

It has had partial deaths before, as minor refurbishing was done in 1972, 1993 and 1995. But Wednesday marked finality.

Too bad the floor couldn't have told a few stories before it was taken out piece by piece for the final time by a group of men that is known in Celtics lore as the Bull Gang.

But short of the floor talking, those at the FleetCenter on this historic night did get the next best thing. They had players who made the floor so special give it the type of sendoff that only the Celtics can have.

"It's great to bring all these guys out," said Boston coach Rick Pitino, who is still struggling to bring winning back to a franchise that is defined by it.

"I'm a person who cried for 15 years at Old Timers Day at Yankee Stadium. I get very emotional about tradition, and about having players come out and talk about memories. It's just wonderful to see Bill Russell and John Havlicek and Bob Cousy and all those guys. I love nights like tonight."

As we head toward Y2K, tradition is becoming less and less prevalent in this age of rampant player movement, multi-million dollar contracts and individualism.

However, youngsters should note that it wasn't always this way.

Just look at the starting five the Celtics came out with Wednesday. No silly. Not the one that belted the Hawks 98-81 in a game that will ultimately be just a blur on the 82-game schedule.

The starting five that took center stage didn't take the floor until halftime.

It was Cousy, the Houdini of the hardwood, at one guard spot.

K.C. Jones, a defensive stopper for the Celtics long before he coached them to two championships, at the other guard.

Russell, merely the winningest player in the history of the sport with 11 championships in 13 years, in the middle.

Havlicek, the man late broadcaster Johnny Most made legendary -- or was it the other way around? -- at small forward.

And Tom Heinsohn, who was making sky hooks long before anyone ever heard of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, as the power forward.

Five Hall of Famers. Five guys who spent their entire careers as Celtics. That is the type of legacy you won't see built ever again.

The mere economics of sports dictates that reality.

So that is why so many Bostonians were floored by the retirement of the floor.

Sure, there will be a replica parquet floor in place by the time the Celtics next play at home after the New Year.

But it won't be the floor where Havlicek stole the ball. Or where Cousy invented the tricky dribble and the behind-the-back pass. Or where the epic triple OT game against Phoenix in 1976 took place. Or where Bird crashed face-first in a playoff game against the Pacers team he now coaches, only to make a Willis Reed-like comeback in the second half.

"This floor was part of everything that's happened here," Cousy said. "It's watched over the greatest professional sports dynasty that's ever been created and ever will be, I think. It probably has watched over more Hall of Famers than any other. Just a lot of exciting moments on this floor."

Exciting if you were a Celtic. Annoying if you weren't.

"When I first went to Boston as a visiting player, there was all the dead spots and the ball would never come back up," Hornets coach and former Celtic Paul Silas said. "But when I started playing for Boston, the ball came back up because I knew where every dead spot was. We all knew where the dead spots were."

That was the kind of unfair advantage Red Auerbach lived for. And the only thing out of place about Wednesday night was that Auerbach wasn't in the building. The Celtics report that he was "under the weather."

But Auerbach did forward some thoughts. "The parquet floor is synonymous with the Celtics. The so called dead spots on the floor? If teams felt it was a poor floor, I used it for an advantage playing with their minds. It usually worked."

Bob Cousy, Bill Russell and John Havlicek gather to say goodbye to the parquet floor.(AP)

The Millennium Celtics don't run their business like that. They are just another team struggling to make their presence felt on the NBA landscape.

They sense the history they are linked to. Yet there is almost the inevitability they can't add much to it.

Let the record show that the final basket on the parquet floor was a soaring dunk by Celtics 12th man Jamel Thomas (who?). The pass was from third string point guard Doug Overton (who)?

But at least these Celtics had the decency to win, snapping a six-game losing streak in the process.

"It was a little pressure tonight with the legends in the house," said captain Antoine Walker, who led all scorers with 24 points. "We did not want to spoil their night with a loss."

Said Pitino: "Nights like this are why I love being a Celtic coach. It's a memory every single day."

The parquet floor, the original model, is one memory that won't ever be forgotten.