During a discussion about the recent report that coaches for the New Orleans Saints were offering rewards between $1,000 and $1,500 for injuring opposing players, former Celtics star Cedric Maxwell claimed the NFL isn’t the only league that’s doled out bounties.

“We did it in the NBA,” Maxwell told Steve Burton on Sunday night. “We had a guy, Len Elmore, who used to love to take charges. He’s an analyst right now for CBS. You might want to hear this Len. We had a bounty on you. If you stepped on his chest, you got paid.”

Admittedly, the stakes were much different from the allegations against the Saints. The current C’s radio analyst said he got $10 from a pool gathered by the players each time he put an imprint of his size 15 shoe on Elmore’s chest, but there was neither an intent nor reward for inflicting injury.

“Every time he tried to take a charge and you stepped on him, you got paid,” added Maxwell. “What are they going to do, come back and fine me now?”

Nate Robinson

Quite an offseason for former Celtics guard Nate Robinson. First, he was arrested for urinating on a bookstore in a New York City suburb. Now, after joining hundreds of players in the unemployment line due to the NBA lockout, the former University of Washington two-sport athlete is hoping to spend his summer trying out for the NFL. Here’s what the 5-foot-9 Robinson  told SLAM Magazine:

“I might go play football. Do something that nobody’s tried to do.  If I can, I would love to play football a little bit. I’ve been doing a little bit of training. Why wouldn’t you want to have an NBA player that can play football try out? That’s a lot of publicity for your organization.”

There’s one little problem: The NFL is locked out, too. Kinda makes you realize why Robinson decided to pull up for 3-pointers when he was on a 1-on-4 fast break. It’s fairly safe to assume Nate Robinson is the best two-sport locked out athlete in history.

Glen Davis wants to make one thing very, very clear. He has no intention of playing in the NFL.

“No football for me,” the injured power forward said, while leaving the Garden wearing a Cincinnati Reds baseball cap. “Put that on the record.”

We assume he’s not considering baseball either.

Earlier this week, Davis told ESPN The Magazine that he wanted to try pro football after his NBA career.

He was kidded about it before Friday’s game by several Celtics, including Tony Allen and general manager Danny Ainge.

Doc Rivers can appreciate point guard greatness when he sees it.

He can also draw analogies unlike any other NBA coach. Rivers, a huge NFL fan, sees Steve Nash and he sees not just a point guard but a supremely gifted signal-caller on the floor.

Nash, a spry 35, is off to another other-worldly start for the Suns. He entered Friday’s game on the parquet averaging 19.6 points, 10.8 assists and three rebounds per contest.

“That’s who he is,” Rivers said. “He’s a great quarterback. He’s [Tom] Brady and [Peyton] Manning and all those guys combined at times, it looks like. He can shoot, he can pass. He does a lot for their team. And they have some great players around him.”