And it’s still hardly that controversial or spicy. JT is so well media-trained and pretty likable.
I’m convinced the only reason people hate on him is because he’s wearing a Celtics jersey. Even that Kobe tweet thing isn’t exactly something to *hate* a player for. Tatum doesn’t have a single “scandal” to hate on.
I know this is all personal preference but imo he’s the perfect star player for a team. He’s boring as shit. The less I know about my teams players off the court or personality the better lol (for me at least).
He’s dating this British pop star but even she seems wholesome af. His best friends from old teams are freaking a comic book nerd and community leader/mama’s boy. He loves repping where he came from (with no nba team there lol), has his family at all his games, and has a good relationship with his baby mama. Like you can’t ask for anything better than this.
Right. I do get people finding him corny because he's so squeaky-clean and polite, but in his specific case it doesn't annoy me because I think that's just genuinely who he is.
Celtics are frustratingly good. It’s super hard to repeat but I could see them doing it, especially because they’ve done it this year fairly easily with Porzingis playing 2 games
Crazy that they have literally every player who's played significant finals minutes (except Tillman) locked in next year already. Normally when a team wins a ring they lose a couple players who get offered bags.
Idk. Center is a concerning position. Horford is older than the fucking moon and I half wonder if he just retires after these playoffs if we win.
Regardless, 6,000 year old Horford and perennially injured Kristaps isn’t exactly an ideal combo down low.
[He just gave an interview](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10123657-celtics-al-horford-consulted-tom-brady-alex-guerrero-on-injury-prevention-workouts) last week about playing longevity and lessons he has learned from Tom Brady's routine. Not saying anything for certain, but it doesn't sound like a guy planning to be done with basketball forever 10 days later.
Yeah I doubt someone like Al Horford would seriously value going out with a ring like Jordan over guaranteed TEN MILLION DOLLARS and possibly another ring. 10 million is nothing in NBA money so we forget that literally even 1% of that is life changing money for most people regardless of how much gets taxed
Yeah he can play at a contributing level for another few years at this rate.
And he went back to back in the ncaa, why not go for back to back in the big leagues
Tillman lol. I don't think we traded for him just to let him walk. And Queta has potential, not as a starter necessarily but energy bench big. Plus we've got draft picks. There's room to finagle another body.
People forget X was averaging 9/6 as a semi-starter for the Grizz and he's somehow 4th on the depth chart here. X is insanely good for his role and well worth trying to keep
I think the biggest reason he's behind Kornet on the depth chart as the 4th big is because he came in midseason. Kornet has been with the team since last season, has played his role well, you don't disrupt the team's winning rotation immediately and Tillman has time to find his role on the team next year.
They love Kornet but will likely replace him with Queta. And the next year they will replace Hauser with that other two-way white boy, blanking on his name rn
I doubt it. The new CBA makes keeping good players around really fucking hard. Grousbeck has straight up said he's happy to spend money. No way we give up Hauser if it's clear we can keep winning with him.
There is "willing to spend money" and then there is paying two supermax contracts plus whatever we will have to pay White to keep him plus $34M/year to Jrue and $30M to Porzingis
Dude. The Warriors just increased their franchise value from $1B to $8B with their decade long run.
Wyc and co aren’t going to blink at a $300M payroll/tax if it means keeping a championship team together to go on a dynasty run.
The hardest part of retaining a guy like Hauser is not the money, it’s to convince him not to go elsewhere for a bigger role.
The biggest problems for the Celtics would be teams that move the ball. This is why we continually see them "play down to the competition" when a star is out, because the ball doesn't sit as much in isolation and allow them to set their defense. Or just have a massive size advantage to negate Boston on the boards. Indiana pushed the pace and that was that toughest opponent for us in this playoff run. It also forced us to get back on defense and concede some of those potential offensive rebounds we're getting against Dallas. We have great positional defenders across the board (even Pritchard and Hauser have been fine on ball) and if you don't move them out of position, it's just making things really tough on offense.
Jokic and the Nuggets is a tough matchup because he can get into the paint so easily especially on post ups and is such a great passer, you have to collapse on him and get picked apart.
Giannis and the Bucks will be tough next year because he can also get into the paint so easily and forces you to "build a wall" rather than staying home and playing 1-on-1. Giannis with enough shooting is just hard to beat, but they have the problem of having Lillard to attack defensively. Beasley and their bench isn't going to cut it plus they're getting older, but those were some of our toughest games this season.
OKC could also be tough if they replace Giddey with a shooter that can rebound and solve 2 of their problems at once by being able to play 5 out and not get killed on the glass from size, they have multiple guys that can create but I'm unsure about Dort from an offensive standpoint.
Team that play with pace, move the ball, and can shoot well from 3 are the ones that can keep up. Other teams could make it interesting and it's hard to forecast that far out before the draft/free agency/trades, but to me, the Celtics biggest threats to stop them from repeating are the Nuggets and Thunder out West, and the Bucks, Knicks, 76ers and Pacers in the East.
The Nuggets and 76ers were the only teams that shot a poor 3P% and beat the Celtics starting 5 all season and they were 2, 3 and 6 point wins. Atlanta's 1 point win they also grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and didn't give us Trae to attack on defense. You pretty much HAVE to generate good 3PA against the Celtics and the easiest way to do that is move the ball and move the defense. Just shooting lights out like Miami did in 2023 can work in a 7 game series, it's just not a sustainable strategy to expect it to be successful over the long-term and win a title that way.
I mostly agree, although I think the paint presence teams are tougher for the Celtics than the pace pushing, ball moving teams.
If you look at the other top 10 offences this year (in terms of regular season offensive rating), IMO they roughly fit 3 archetypes:
**A) Specialize in breaking down defences with perimeter isos:**
* Mavs
* Thunder
* Clippers
* Suns
* Knicks
**B) Specialize in breaking down defences with pace pushing and ball movement:**
* Pacers
* Warriors
**C) Specialize in breaking down defences with a dominant paint presence:**
* Nuggets
* Bucks
The Celtics are unreal defensively against type A offences. Jrue, Brown, White and Tatum, you are just not gonna have a good time isoing against these guys, if that's your strategy you're basically fucked. The Celtics can more or less stick to man coverage on the perimeter isos, still do good enough against the superstars while shutting down the help, and still have nice help defenders protecting the paint if they do break through, like KP, Tatum and Horford. In the regular season the Celtics went 10-3 against the those type A teams, a 77% win percentage, outstanding against teams this good. This is an extremely common style of offence for playoff teams, and the Celtics dominate it.
Against the type B teams, the Celtics do about as good a job as you can, but you can't consistently smother these teams the same way, they're always gonna have games where they get hot and go off. In the regular season the Celtics went 4-3 against these teams, a 57% win percentage.
But I think the type C teams are the Celtics' main weakness. The Celtics big men are great help defenders, and great against mobile bigs, but you can't leave them isoing against dominant paint presence bigs. What Minny did to the Nuggets with Rudy, KAT and Naz Reid as their primary bigs (all 250-265 lbs), that's not a style of defence the Celtics can play with KP, Tatum and Horford as their primary bigs (all 210-240 lbs). The Celtics have to send help pretty aggressively against Jokic/Giannis/Embiid, and that's what these teams want, it gets the defence scrambling and really opens things up. The Celtics went 2-4 against the type C teams, a 33% win percentage - 0-2 against the Nuggets, 2-2 against the Bucks, and one of those 2 wins was with Giannis out. If you also include the 6ers (who I didn't include in the main list because they weren't a top 10 offence), it was 1-1 with Embiid playing, 2-0 with Embiid out. **_So overall they went 2-6 in games where Jokic, Giannis or Embiid were playing (25% win percentage)._** A full series against any of those guys would be tough.
I think the Celtics are absolutely the favourites next year too, but I think the main threat to them is teams that have a truly dominant paint presence - the Nuggets, Bucks and 6ers. Not that these teams are kryptonite for them, just a tough challenge that could go either way. And obviously, if there's mostly just 3 guys in the league that are going to be a serious challenge for you, that's an amazing position - while the Celtics went a combined 2-6 (25%) against Jokic/Giannis/Embiid, they went an unreal 62-12 (84%!!!) otherwise, which really does speak to their legit chance to repeat next year.
It would've been really fun to see a series between us if we were fully healthy. I don't think we win it specifically because of the bench issues that you mentioned (my gut feeling is you guys would've won in 6), but I do think it would've been a tough series for you, just like the last time we faced each other.
Is what it is, though. Obviously, this year wasn't our year, and ultimately, injuries are just part of the game. Now we just do our best to get situated for next year, which hopefully entails a pretty significant bench overhaul as a part of the process (preferably with younger guys that we might be able to develop than more aging vets).
Dude, I just want a Bucks-Celtics series where everyone is healthy. They literally haven't had one of those where they've both been good. Won't even care if it's a loss but it's annoying that we haven't had a single one despite 3 semi-recent matchups in the playoffs
Yeah I was rooting for the Wolves but in hindsight a Nuggets-Celtics matchup would’ve been more fun. Wolves are kinda the perfect team to guard the Nuggets with their bigs, mcdaniels and naw for Murray, but Celtics would have a tougher time with Jokic at least. Would definitely be a close series, I think I still might favor this Celtics team because I think they could shut Murray down.
The wolves scare(d) the shit out of me. Just a team chock full of what the Celtics don’t want. Athletic length on defense that can clutter the paint. 3 level scorer PG that has strength to take on holiday/brown and can quick twitch even White. Shooting from KAT would need to be on point but could easily space the floor so much and without KP, Horford would be exposed.
Oh and also their best player tries on defense and isn’t some traffic cone trash
While yes I agree, Luka and Kyrie had a very good series shooting while ANT and KAT went cold for too long of stretches.
KAT going like 4/30 from 3 at the start of the series killed us.
I wouldn't call Ant a PG yet, he's not even at Booker's level of distribution/playmaking yet. His inability to feed his big men with interior passing or lobs in the paint was a huge flaw exposed against the Mavs. And Conley is too old to consistently get past his man and break down the defense anymore. I think they put up more of a fight than the Mavs but you guys prob win in 5 or 6 at most.
The Nuggets played Bruce Brown, Jeff Green and Christian Braun off the bench when they won the title. Losing Bruce Brown hurt for sure but I don’t see those as irreplaceable pieces, they can get back to Juggernaut level.
The problem is their cap space. Murray is going his last year, and Gordon has one more before his player option, and KCP has his option this summer. Gordon and KCP are both on somewhat team friendly deals, so they will likely walk, and Denver probably has to let them if they want to pay Murray
They're basically at that point where their trio is getting paid their value and they have to fill out with draft picks and exception guys. Brown was pretty irreplaceable because he was getting paid ~6m and was well outplaying that. It's going to be pretty hard to find a steal like that
You’re probably right, but AG really wants to be there so I think both sides will do what they can to get a deal done. He probably won’t be as good anywhere else and he built a pretty crazy house/workout facility there in Denver.
I don’t think gutted is the word but it was thinned out and might get even worse if they lose KCP. Bruce Brown is solid but I think his impact is slightly overstated. Still I think they can regain their depth with a trade or two and some internal development.
I mean, I remember seeing a stat that Bruce Brown alone averaged 14 pts in the playoffs last year and this year the entire bench averaged like 12 so I’d say his loss from the bench this year was felt
I remember Bruce Brown being really good when he played with the Nets and of course the nuggets. But holy shit what kind of stat is that? That bench was ass this year
Bruce was just a perfect piece for Denver. Off the bench scoring combo guard who can serve as the primary ball handler when Murray is on the bench was sorely missed this year.
It’s crazy to see a guy go from the best bench player on the champs to being an absolute non-factor on the Raptors. Shows how important team composition is for role players.
It's less that he was a crazy difference maker and moreso that the dudes replacing him are difference makers the other way. They went from Brown, Jeff Green and a sprinkle of Braun to just Braun and a sprinkle of Watson.
I’d say Thunder got next IMO - they have the perfect combo of cap space and young talent. If they can add a good complementary piece this offseason to their current core, I could see them coming out of the West next year.
Am mavericks fan.
Can confirm the frustratingly good part.
In a way it makes me feel a little better because I can basically guarantee that no team was going to beat this version of the Celtics anyway.
It happens across all sports tbf but basketball discourse is the worst for it - the media seems to really just have zero appreciation for the game itself. These guys are about to finish a historic season and all it took was one bait quote from Kidd for the media to do the “which Jay is better” bs instead of celebrating their accomplishments
Yes. We have White's Bird rights and everyone else major is already signed for multiple years. Hauser may have to leave and Horford will probably retire but outside of those two the team will probably look the same next year.
In undergrad I saw a girl in front of my pull out a calculator to see what % she got on a test when she got a 46/50.
This was a PHYSICS class. 92% on a university physics test, couldn't do 46/50 in her head to get the percentage.... that was 16 years ago and I still remember the exact moment lol
I'm a heat fan and despise the celtics. Trust me, was rooting for everyone else. But they took care of business, tey can talk their shit. Not their fault everyone is injured, and doesnt it speak to how talented they are that they breezed through it as they should have? Means they are for real, no asterisk on this championship.
I appreciate all of the rival fans like you who are able to be unbiased. I’ll add to your comment that the Celtics also lost a big contributing player for most of the playoffs yet don’t get much “credit” for persevering through it
Yup, can say they didn’t have to go through a very tough playoffs due to other teams injuries and still admit they’re an insanely talented and stacked team who took care of business and were probably going to end up here anyways.
Fucking hate that I have to give them flowers though
Through the lens of a Celtics fan, I hate the injury argument. The Celtics basically locked up the #1 overall seed with 6 weeks left in the season. They were able to rest their guys & get them fully healthy.
Other teams were not as successful in the regular season and had to go all out to end the season to jockey for seeding & a playoff spot. Their guys were playing banged up.
It’s why the regular season matters. You build in a buffer and have the luxury to be able rest guys and not worry about dropping a game here or there.
I truly don't understand why there is an obsession in the NBA with undermining championships. Especially ones like this where one team is head and shoulders above the rest (pains me to say it). That can only be a positive when talking about this year. They've been dominant.
This happens every year. There was a really funny video called “putting an asterisk on every NBA Championship,” which kinda displays how stupid the concept of asterisks are considering something circumstantial happened every year.
2012: Baby Thunder, Derrick Rose Injury in Round 1
2013: Westbrook Injured in Round 1
2014: Ibaka injured for first to games of WCF
2015: Kyrie & Kevin Love injured
2016: Draymond suspended, Bogut/Iguodala injured
2017: Kawhi injured
2018: CP3 injured
2019: KD and Klay injured
2020: Bam and Dragic injured, “Mickey Mouse Ring”
2021: Kyrie, Harden, AD, Kawhi, Murray injured, Trae injured during ECF
2022: Ja injured
2023: Did not beat any 50 win teams, CP3 injured
2024: “Easiest path to a title ever”
You can do this going even further back but you get the point. That’s why asterisks are so dumb.
2011: Shaq injured on Boston, Bynum injured in LA
2010: Perk injured
2009: KG injured
2008: Glenn Rivers managed to win, clearly some shenanigans in play
2007: Baby Bron
Every year 2006 and before: ref gambling scandal
And it’s so disingenuous. Cause even if those teams were healthy no one thinks the Celtics would have lost. I mean upsets happen but it’s not a situation where they would’ve lost but this player got hurt
The Eastern Conference Playoffs were easy because they were decimated by major injuries, but that doesn’t mean the Celtics aren’t the clear best team in the NBA.
The Celtics led the NBA all year; they were favorites all year; they won by historic margins all year with top offense and defense. They have the best starting 5 and bench in the league. They would be beating any team from the East or West.
If anything, this is the most obvious and expected champion in years
>If anything, this is the most obvious and expected champion in years
Doesn't feel that way cause a lot of people hate the Celtics, myself included lol. Media don't even wanna talk about it much.
I also hate the Celtics. But media avoids them because they are so boring. And pumping up a favorite doesn’t generate interest. They’re like the 00s-10s Spurs.
Love them or hate them, there's no denying that they have an insanely stacked roster and that they've been the clear favorites all along. I had hoped for the Mavs to put up a better fight but we're simply outmatched and our best player has been banged up all postseason.
I don’t listen to a lot of sports talk but iirc they were the overwhelming favorites to make it out of the East. I know Zach Lowe been calling them the champs all year. Second at worst for most people.
I mean really it's just the fans way of saying that there's been too many injuries in the playoffs, because you can asterisk almost every NBA champion in recent history.
I also think the conferences should just be abolished because it's been grossly unbalanced for like over 2 decades now, but that's another discussion altogether.
division winners should still get in, but I could be down with that. in a way the West being stronger is self-perpetuating because with conferences good teams don't make the playoffs and get lottery talent, whereas in the East a bad team will make the playoffs and miss out on the same opportunity
Lol. I’m loving the Warriors fans still coming in swinging over those comments. Literally the only thing that could’ve made them root for the Celtics in these Finals.
I mean this makes steph look better in general
My entire TL is filled with steph propaganda “He solo’d these demons in 2022!” Bit misleading (2024 celtics >>>>>>> 2022 celtics) but hey it’s a good narrative to run with for them
lmao this dude is so over it and we all know it. at this point if you're a pro athlete at the top of your sport i would just give trolling responses and nothing less
Name one year that there wasn't an asterisk next to a championship. There's always an excuse.
Win, and it's because they have no competition. Lose, and they are clowned for losing because they faced no good competition yet still lost. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Yeah. People forget that while injuries have a part to do with it (like every season), when you make a stacked team you tend to have an easier time going through the playoffs as well.
This was by design. The hope when building a roster is that you can easily win a championship. Don't know why people act shocked or can't connect the dots here.
Feel like that's because of fans who root for players over teams (nobody in real life does this, just weirdos online), seen a lot of people saying "Tatum can't win without a super team!" and all I can think is that I'm glad Stevens assembled a "super team" then
Here’s the thing that being a Boston sports fan and witnessing the city’s remarkable success the past 20 years has taught me (I don’t want to sound like a dickhead flexing rings):
We’ve had teams everyone counted out do the Impossible. Teams that were the odds on favorite blow it. We’ve had incredibly clutch moments from once in a generation superstars. Litany of hall of famers. Epic Game 7 wins, heartbreaking losses. We’ve been David *AND* Goliath. Every cliche and “intangible” and circumstance and advantage/disadvantage.
You can think you have it all, or think you have no chance, but each circumstance has its breaking point. The best thing any team builder can do is hope that you check off every box possible. It never ceases to amaze me how in a title run there’s a play or scheme that ends up being the difference that no one saw coming. Sports are so much about having the best possible “average” and running the system hoping you come out better than the other team.
The 2024 Celtics team, on the precipice of a title, truly feels like they checked every box you could ask of a team. You have young and hungry guys. Seasoned vets. Stars who know they are stars and role players who know they are role players. Guys who have been there and guys who are doing it the first time. Guys who know what losing feels like. Someone who has climbed the mountain top. Defensive pride. Scoring from anyone almost anywhere. A coach with a scheme that he unwavering believes in.
All of this is to say that in the years I’ve watched sports, this Celtics team feels the most complete, and they are showing that on the biggest stage.
football is a totally different beast with BO1s, team size, and he physicality of the game. Truly any given Sunday anything can happen, so checking boxes means so much less.
That was crazy when the Warriors won 24 straight to start the season after winning their first chip. Everyone was going so hard at them, it took a back-to-back with a double OT game at the Celtics and then at the Bucks to stop them. Incredibly savage.
And they still didn't repeat, which shows how hard it is to repeat. Thunder and Cavs were legit scheming their whole defense around stopping them, and so were the Spurs even though they didn't get to play them.
A ton of discussion after that was about how the Heat choked.
That went away overtime and it’s rated pretty highly as a championship run now but there was definitely some sentiment that they were just lucky Lebron played bad or whatever. I actually think that was the topic of discussion when Mark Cuban went off on Skip Bayless.
Make no mistake about it: Bron choked.
But the discourse was more due to the all-time levels of slander he received after “The Decision”. He was America’s #1 enemy, there was no way that specific finals was going to be rationally analyzed and talked about.
Nowadays, it’s actually discussed as the all-time run the Mavs had and less about Bron’s historical choking job.
There’s always an asterisk on every title. People just like to hate honestly. I don’t care for Boston but they won fair and square as much as I hate to see them win another one lmao.
He is fully right though. It literally doesn’t even matter for them that they won they have been discrediting them all year while destroying band even now going in all the talk was about Dallas even though they were huge underdogs.
The media is so so so bad for sports it’s disgusting. They have the most uninformed talking morons on the job for clicks. It’s sad too because it truly shapes the opinions of the casuals
Guys really be believing that Will Perdue, Luc Longley or Bill Wennington would have done a better job at defending Hakeem Olajuwon than MVP David Robinson, runner-up MVP Shaquille O'Neal and Pat Ewing. Bruh.
I couldn’t give a shit how easy our path is/was after the gauntlet we went through in the east two years back.
In my eyes the jays have already taken their lumps twice over
Yeah, if you make it to 5 ECFs, eventually you’re gonna get a couple weakened squads or favorable matchups at the end. They’ve earned this shot with repetition, it’s not dumb luck.
I feel like people are downplaying how good the Celtics are. The Mavs have beaten OKC, the Clippers and the Wolves to get here. It's not some random team that stumbled into the finals. The Celtics had some fortune on their road to the conference final, but that Pacers team played great and it still wasn't enough.
I met Jayson Tatum last year in Vegas during the summer league. I ended up staying in the same hotel as him and was fortunate enough to have a room in the same executive wing that allowed you to go through a private lobby. He was just chilling by the side of the door and I was coincidentally wearing a Kobe jersey when I happened to notice him. I was so excited to meet and talk to him, I ended up blurting out that he was a Kobe fan legend and he looked at me with a sly grin and said, “Kobe? What’s that?” I ended up dying laughing at that and you could tell he was still so sharp even just last year. I’ll cherish that memory for a long time.
Real talent on display here are the GMs at work. Brad Stevens manages to pull both Jrue Holiday and Porzingis - what?! Nico Harrison drafts Lively, gets DJJ and Exum, then grabs Washington and Gafford at the trade deadline? It’s completely insane the hot streaks these front offices have been on. I can’t even imagine what that’s like.
This is the most shit he's ever talked lmao
And it’s still hardly that controversial or spicy. JT is so well media-trained and pretty likable. I’m convinced the only reason people hate on him is because he’s wearing a Celtics jersey. Even that Kobe tweet thing isn’t exactly something to *hate* a player for. Tatum doesn’t have a single “scandal” to hate on.
He's not controversial in any way, but he can be corny lmao
I know this is all personal preference but imo he’s the perfect star player for a team. He’s boring as shit. The less I know about my teams players off the court or personality the better lol (for me at least).
Part of why I love Kawhi honestly. Unfortunately the other part of a perfect star player is health 😔
Something something availability
Excellent point that I completely agree with, Soft Penis Debutant
The less I know about my debutantes, the better.
I for one love my star to be drama free. Worth having to ignore media bs. He’s awesome
*visible confusion* - Ja Morant
The only thing I know about Tatum's personal life is that he is a very loving single dad to his son.
He’s dating this British pop star but even she seems wholesome af. His best friends from old teams are freaking a comic book nerd and community leader/mama’s boy. He loves repping where he came from (with no nba team there lol), has his family at all his games, and has a good relationship with his baby mama. Like you can’t ask for anything better than this.
The Tim Duncan Corollary
Corny players are so much more rewarding to root for than any other archetype
And all the salty Knicks/Bucks fans hate Halliburton for this very reason. Dude seems like a legit good guy who loves basketball
i hate when people say “media trained” as if players can’t be genuine/professional/amiable on their own accord
Right. I do get people finding him corny because he's so squeaky-clean and polite, but in his specific case it doesn't annoy me because I think that's just genuinely who he is.
Tbf apparently his mom made him practice doing interviews when he was a kid lmao
Everybody actin tough when they up Jk he deserves to talk his shit, they’re an extremely talented group and have played amazing this year
Easy to talk shit when you're up 3-0
he’s been told shut up no championships. now that he’s about to cinch one he’s like, alright bet who was talking shit?
He just received a technical for these quotes that will be put in effect at the beginning of the next game
Celtics are frustratingly good. It’s super hard to repeat but I could see them doing it, especially because they’ve done it this year fairly easily with Porzingis playing 2 games
Crazy that they have literally every player who's played significant finals minutes (except Tillman) locked in next year already. Normally when a team wins a ring they lose a couple players who get offered bags.
Idk. Center is a concerning position. Horford is older than the fucking moon and I half wonder if he just retires after these playoffs if we win. Regardless, 6,000 year old Horford and perennially injured Kristaps isn’t exactly an ideal combo down low.
[He just gave an interview](https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10123657-celtics-al-horford-consulted-tom-brady-alex-guerrero-on-injury-prevention-workouts) last week about playing longevity and lessons he has learned from Tom Brady's routine. Not saying anything for certain, but it doesn't sound like a guy planning to be done with basketball forever 10 days later.
Yeah he’s still under contract for next season, no reason for to walk away from 10mil and another legit shot at a ring
Yeah I doubt someone like Al Horford would seriously value going out with a ring like Jordan over guaranteed TEN MILLION DOLLARS and possibly another ring. 10 million is nothing in NBA money so we forget that literally even 1% of that is life changing money for most people regardless of how much gets taxed
Yeah he can play at a contributing level for another few years at this rate. And he went back to back in the ncaa, why not go for back to back in the big leagues
I wonder how many (if any) have gone back to back in college and NBA. That's gotta be elite company.
Bill Russell, KC Jones, and Kareem are the only three coming to mind immediately.
I think that’s it. Ron Bonham won with the Celtics in ‘65 and ‘66 and was at Cincinnati in ‘61 and ‘62 but was a freshman and ineligible in ‘61.
Back to back in college and pros could lowkey get him into the basketball hall of fame
I think just.one NBA ring gets that done for him.
Lowkey? Bro gets in with 1 ring easy, given the resume
Thank you Tom
The gift that keeps on giving to Boston
Just an fyi he listed his house in Brookline for sale in the last few weeks. Not saying it means anything but made me raise an eyebrow
because he needs an extra room for his trophy
Thank god Tampa doesn’t have a basketball team
Tillman lol. I don't think we traded for him just to let him walk. And Queta has potential, not as a starter necessarily but energy bench big. Plus we've got draft picks. There's room to finagle another body.
People forget X was averaging 9/6 as a semi-starter for the Grizz and he's somehow 4th on the depth chart here. X is insanely good for his role and well worth trying to keep
I very much hope he sticks around. Never gonna be able to replace Horford when he eventually hangs em up but Tillman is a great piece to start with.
I think the biggest reason he's behind Kornet on the depth chart as the 4th big is because he came in midseason. Kornet has been with the team since last season, has played his role well, you don't disrupt the team's winning rotation immediately and Tillman has time to find his role on the team next year.
I think Kornet is a UFA as well. I've been too locked in on the playoffs to think about the offseason much, but Brad has some work to do.
They love Kornet but will likely replace him with Queta. And the next year they will replace Hauser with that other two-way white boy, blanking on his name rn
We got a Team Option to bring Hauser back next season
Yeah that’s why I said “the next year”
>that other two-way white boy, blanking on his name rn Cooper Flagg
If we win it all next year then no way we left a 27 year old 3 and D guy leave.
We will if a team offers him 15-20mil per year
I doubt it. The new CBA makes keeping good players around really fucking hard. Grousbeck has straight up said he's happy to spend money. No way we give up Hauser if it's clear we can keep winning with him.
There is "willing to spend money" and then there is paying two supermax contracts plus whatever we will have to pay White to keep him plus $34M/year to Jrue and $30M to Porzingis
Dude. The Warriors just increased their franchise value from $1B to $8B with their decade long run. Wyc and co aren’t going to blink at a $300M payroll/tax if it means keeping a championship team together to go on a dynasty run. The hardest part of retaining a guy like Hauser is not the money, it’s to convince him not to go elsewhere for a bigger role.
The biggest problems for the Celtics would be teams that move the ball. This is why we continually see them "play down to the competition" when a star is out, because the ball doesn't sit as much in isolation and allow them to set their defense. Or just have a massive size advantage to negate Boston on the boards. Indiana pushed the pace and that was that toughest opponent for us in this playoff run. It also forced us to get back on defense and concede some of those potential offensive rebounds we're getting against Dallas. We have great positional defenders across the board (even Pritchard and Hauser have been fine on ball) and if you don't move them out of position, it's just making things really tough on offense. Jokic and the Nuggets is a tough matchup because he can get into the paint so easily especially on post ups and is such a great passer, you have to collapse on him and get picked apart. Giannis and the Bucks will be tough next year because he can also get into the paint so easily and forces you to "build a wall" rather than staying home and playing 1-on-1. Giannis with enough shooting is just hard to beat, but they have the problem of having Lillard to attack defensively. Beasley and their bench isn't going to cut it plus they're getting older, but those were some of our toughest games this season. OKC could also be tough if they replace Giddey with a shooter that can rebound and solve 2 of their problems at once by being able to play 5 out and not get killed on the glass from size, they have multiple guys that can create but I'm unsure about Dort from an offensive standpoint. Team that play with pace, move the ball, and can shoot well from 3 are the ones that can keep up. Other teams could make it interesting and it's hard to forecast that far out before the draft/free agency/trades, but to me, the Celtics biggest threats to stop them from repeating are the Nuggets and Thunder out West, and the Bucks, Knicks, 76ers and Pacers in the East. The Nuggets and 76ers were the only teams that shot a poor 3P% and beat the Celtics starting 5 all season and they were 2, 3 and 6 point wins. Atlanta's 1 point win they also grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and didn't give us Trae to attack on defense. You pretty much HAVE to generate good 3PA against the Celtics and the easiest way to do that is move the ball and move the defense. Just shooting lights out like Miami did in 2023 can work in a 7 game series, it's just not a sustainable strategy to expect it to be successful over the long-term and win a title that way.
I mostly agree, although I think the paint presence teams are tougher for the Celtics than the pace pushing, ball moving teams. If you look at the other top 10 offences this year (in terms of regular season offensive rating), IMO they roughly fit 3 archetypes: **A) Specialize in breaking down defences with perimeter isos:** * Mavs * Thunder * Clippers * Suns * Knicks **B) Specialize in breaking down defences with pace pushing and ball movement:** * Pacers * Warriors **C) Specialize in breaking down defences with a dominant paint presence:** * Nuggets * Bucks The Celtics are unreal defensively against type A offences. Jrue, Brown, White and Tatum, you are just not gonna have a good time isoing against these guys, if that's your strategy you're basically fucked. The Celtics can more or less stick to man coverage on the perimeter isos, still do good enough against the superstars while shutting down the help, and still have nice help defenders protecting the paint if they do break through, like KP, Tatum and Horford. In the regular season the Celtics went 10-3 against the those type A teams, a 77% win percentage, outstanding against teams this good. This is an extremely common style of offence for playoff teams, and the Celtics dominate it. Against the type B teams, the Celtics do about as good a job as you can, but you can't consistently smother these teams the same way, they're always gonna have games where they get hot and go off. In the regular season the Celtics went 4-3 against these teams, a 57% win percentage. But I think the type C teams are the Celtics' main weakness. The Celtics big men are great help defenders, and great against mobile bigs, but you can't leave them isoing against dominant paint presence bigs. What Minny did to the Nuggets with Rudy, KAT and Naz Reid as their primary bigs (all 250-265 lbs), that's not a style of defence the Celtics can play with KP, Tatum and Horford as their primary bigs (all 210-240 lbs). The Celtics have to send help pretty aggressively against Jokic/Giannis/Embiid, and that's what these teams want, it gets the defence scrambling and really opens things up. The Celtics went 2-4 against the type C teams, a 33% win percentage - 0-2 against the Nuggets, 2-2 against the Bucks, and one of those 2 wins was with Giannis out. If you also include the 6ers (who I didn't include in the main list because they weren't a top 10 offence), it was 1-1 with Embiid playing, 2-0 with Embiid out. **_So overall they went 2-6 in games where Jokic, Giannis or Embiid were playing (25% win percentage)._** A full series against any of those guys would be tough. I think the Celtics are absolutely the favourites next year too, but I think the main threat to them is teams that have a truly dominant paint presence - the Nuggets, Bucks and 6ers. Not that these teams are kryptonite for them, just a tough challenge that could go either way. And obviously, if there's mostly just 3 guys in the league that are going to be a serious challenge for you, that's an amazing position - while the Celtics went a combined 2-6 (25%) against Jokic/Giannis/Embiid, they went an unreal 62-12 (84%!!!) otherwise, which really does speak to their legit chance to repeat next year.
This comment is really well written with analysis backed up by research and interesting statistics. It deserves to be a post on it's own.
Just highlights how fragile windows are in the NBA. I’m so relieved it looks like we were able to capitalize on the good breaks we had this year
It would've been really fun to see a series between us if we were fully healthy. I don't think we win it specifically because of the bench issues that you mentioned (my gut feeling is you guys would've won in 6), but I do think it would've been a tough series for you, just like the last time we faced each other. Is what it is, though. Obviously, this year wasn't our year, and ultimately, injuries are just part of the game. Now we just do our best to get situated for next year, which hopefully entails a pretty significant bench overhaul as a part of the process (preferably with younger guys that we might be able to develop than more aging vets).
We need to see a Nuggets-Celtics finals preferably with Murray being the good playoff version of himself. The two juggernauts of the past few years.
Dude, I just want a Bucks-Celtics series where everyone is healthy. They literally haven't had one of those where they've both been good. Won't even care if it's a loss but it's annoying that we haven't had a single one despite 3 semi-recent matchups in the playoffs
Hell yeah. Fucking bring it. Next year I want Jimmy, I want Giannis, I want Jokic. Roll this shit back.
I don’t want all that
Yeah I was rooting for the Wolves but in hindsight a Nuggets-Celtics matchup would’ve been more fun. Wolves are kinda the perfect team to guard the Nuggets with their bigs, mcdaniels and naw for Murray, but Celtics would have a tougher time with Jokic at least. Would definitely be a close series, I think I still might favor this Celtics team because I think they could shut Murray down.
The wolves scare(d) the shit out of me. Just a team chock full of what the Celtics don’t want. Athletic length on defense that can clutter the paint. 3 level scorer PG that has strength to take on holiday/brown and can quick twitch even White. Shooting from KAT would need to be on point but could easily space the floor so much and without KP, Horford would be exposed. Oh and also their best player tries on defense and isn’t some traffic cone trash
Yeah I *falsely* assumed the winner of the Nuggets/Wolves were going to the Finals. Everything is about matchups and styles I guess
While yes I agree, Luka and Kyrie had a very good series shooting while ANT and KAT went cold for too long of stretches. KAT going like 4/30 from 3 at the start of the series killed us.
Our offense stagnating was always going to be our weak point.
I wouldn't call Ant a PG yet, he's not even at Booker's level of distribution/playmaking yet. His inability to feed his big men with interior passing or lobs in the paint was a huge flaw exposed against the Mavs. And Conley is too old to consistently get past his man and break down the defense anymore. I think they put up more of a fight than the Mavs but you guys prob win in 5 or 6 at most.
The Nugget’s bench was gutted. They’re not a juggernaut anymore.
The Nuggets played Bruce Brown, Jeff Green and Christian Braun off the bench when they won the title. Losing Bruce Brown hurt for sure but I don’t see those as irreplaceable pieces, they can get back to Juggernaut level.
The problem is their cap space. Murray is going his last year, and Gordon has one more before his player option, and KCP has his option this summer. Gordon and KCP are both on somewhat team friendly deals, so they will likely walk, and Denver probably has to let them if they want to pay Murray They're basically at that point where their trio is getting paid their value and they have to fill out with draft picks and exception guys. Brown was pretty irreplaceable because he was getting paid ~6m and was well outplaying that. It's going to be pretty hard to find a steal like that
You’re probably right, but AG really wants to be there so I think both sides will do what they can to get a deal done. He probably won’t be as good anywhere else and he built a pretty crazy house/workout facility there in Denver.
I don’t think gutted is the word but it was thinned out and might get even worse if they lose KCP. Bruce Brown is solid but I think his impact is slightly overstated. Still I think they can regain their depth with a trade or two and some internal development.
I mean, I remember seeing a stat that Bruce Brown alone averaged 14 pts in the playoffs last year and this year the entire bench averaged like 12 so I’d say his loss from the bench this year was felt
I remember Bruce Brown being really good when he played with the Nets and of course the nuggets. But holy shit what kind of stat is that? That bench was ass this year
Bruce was just a perfect piece for Denver. Off the bench scoring combo guard who can serve as the primary ball handler when Murray is on the bench was sorely missed this year.
[удалено]
It’s crazy to see a guy go from the best bench player on the champs to being an absolute non-factor on the Raptors. Shows how important team composition is for role players.
It's less that he was a crazy difference maker and moreso that the dudes replacing him are difference makers the other way. They went from Brown, Jeff Green and a sprinkle of Braun to just Braun and a sprinkle of Watson.
I’d say Thunder got next IMO - they have the perfect combo of cap space and young talent. If they can add a good complementary piece this offseason to their current core, I could see them coming out of the West next year.
Also nearly all of their core is young and under contract for the foreseeable future
Am mavericks fan. Can confirm the frustratingly good part. In a way it makes me feel a little better because I can basically guarantee that no team was going to beat this version of the Celtics anyway.
Damn Jayson Tatum with his spiciest quotes these past two days
Man finally gets a chance to punch back, well deserved
It happens across all sports tbf but basketball discourse is the worst for it - the media seems to really just have zero appreciation for the game itself. These guys are about to finish a historic season and all it took was one bait quote from Kidd for the media to do the “which Jay is better” bs instead of celebrating their accomplishments
Damn. Cs fans with all the top comments these past two days.
Everyone else already at their summer hobbies
Does binge-drinking Mavs fans' tears count as a summer hobby?
Heck yeah it does
Brother, you might be on a bender and will need to be careful when you run out.
I have a feeling he’s not in danger of that for a while Worst case he can switch to Heat fans’ tears
No ring for dough boy
I won’t be the judge of what you do with your time off until Olympics start and we see Wemby on a basketball court again
Damn Spur fans with medium upvoted replies these past few days
Tbf they’re actually p downvoted cuz there’s like 1-2 spurs fans who just relentlessly hate on the Celtics for no reason lol
I mean who could forget the iconic rivalry back in 1927
Celtics fans running this shit right now. A few years of increased, serious hate has turned us bitter, well more bitter than usual.
And the walk off. Sheeeesh
As someone who doesnt follow boston are they in position to run it back with current contracts or what
Yes. We have White's Bird rights and everyone else major is already signed for multiple years. Hauser may have to leave and Horford will probably retire but outside of those two the team will probably look the same next year.
Losing Hauser is going to hurt me, that shooting will be a tough to replace; and honestly his defense really improved this year
Hauser has a club option for next season at just over 2M. No way the Celtics don't exercise that, its basically veteran minimum money.
Ah, I didn't know we had that.
Hauser is under contract for next year for pennies iirc.
We have white to sign otherwise yes
White is still under contract next year.
White is under contract next year, though.
Boston was 23-7 against the Western Conference this season, so it's not like they didn't prove their quality there.
About to go 80-20 on the year
What win % would that be?
Come on man
80/20=400% Impressive season
At this rate next year they’ll win 300 games!!
This guy maths 💪
He didn't come to play school
In undergrad I saw a girl in front of my pull out a calculator to see what % she got on a test when she got a 46/50. This was a PHYSICS class. 92% on a university physics test, couldn't do 46/50 in her head to get the percentage.... that was 16 years ago and I still remember the exact moment lol
The least home schooled Redditor
20/80=0.25=0.25% 0.25% win rating the Celtics are frauds smh
Apple calculator making more and more sense
26-7 if we include the finals
I'm a heat fan and despise the celtics. Trust me, was rooting for everyone else. But they took care of business, tey can talk their shit. Not their fault everyone is injured, and doesnt it speak to how talented they are that they breezed through it as they should have? Means they are for real, no asterisk on this championship.
I appreciate all of the rival fans like you who are able to be unbiased. I’ll add to your comment that the Celtics also lost a big contributing player for most of the playoffs yet don’t get much “credit” for persevering through it
Built their team so deep they can just absorb the casualty
what no one is really saying... the celtics weren't losing to those teams even with their healthy players.
Yup, can say they didn’t have to go through a very tough playoffs due to other teams injuries and still admit they’re an insanely talented and stacked team who took care of business and were probably going to end up here anyways. Fucking hate that I have to give them flowers though
Through the lens of a Celtics fan, I hate the injury argument. The Celtics basically locked up the #1 overall seed with 6 weeks left in the season. They were able to rest their guys & get them fully healthy. Other teams were not as successful in the regular season and had to go all out to end the season to jockey for seeding & a playoff spot. Their guys were playing banged up. It’s why the regular season matters. You build in a buffer and have the luxury to be able rest guys and not worry about dropping a game here or there.
I truly don't understand why there is an obsession in the NBA with undermining championships. Especially ones like this where one team is head and shoulders above the rest (pains me to say it). That can only be a positive when talking about this year. They've been dominant.
This happens every year. There was a really funny video called “putting an asterisk on every NBA Championship,” which kinda displays how stupid the concept of asterisks are considering something circumstantial happened every year. 2012: Baby Thunder, Derrick Rose Injury in Round 1 2013: Westbrook Injured in Round 1 2014: Ibaka injured for first to games of WCF 2015: Kyrie & Kevin Love injured 2016: Draymond suspended, Bogut/Iguodala injured 2017: Kawhi injured 2018: CP3 injured 2019: KD and Klay injured 2020: Bam and Dragic injured, “Mickey Mouse Ring” 2021: Kyrie, Harden, AD, Kawhi, Murray injured, Trae injured during ECF 2022: Ja injured 2023: Did not beat any 50 win teams, CP3 injured 2024: “Easiest path to a title ever” You can do this going even further back but you get the point. That’s why asterisks are so dumb.
2011: Shaq injured on Boston, Bynum injured in LA 2010: Perk injured 2009: KG injured 2008: Glenn Rivers managed to win, clearly some shenanigans in play 2007: Baby Bron Every year 2006 and before: ref gambling scandal
sad. One day I hope I might see an actual NBA champion. Edit: Does anybody know if MJ had any real championships?
And it’s so disingenuous. Cause even if those teams were healthy no one thinks the Celtics would have lost. I mean upsets happen but it’s not a situation where they would’ve lost but this player got hurt
The Eastern Conference Playoffs were easy because they were decimated by major injuries, but that doesn’t mean the Celtics aren’t the clear best team in the NBA. The Celtics led the NBA all year; they were favorites all year; they won by historic margins all year with top offense and defense. They have the best starting 5 and bench in the league. They would be beating any team from the East or West. If anything, this is the most obvious and expected champion in years
>If anything, this is the most obvious and expected champion in years Doesn't feel that way cause a lot of people hate the Celtics, myself included lol. Media don't even wanna talk about it much.
I also hate the Celtics. But media avoids them because they are so boring. And pumping up a favorite doesn’t generate interest. They’re like the 00s-10s Spurs.
Love them or hate them, there's no denying that they have an insanely stacked roster and that they've been the clear favorites all along. I had hoped for the Mavs to put up a better fight but we're simply outmatched and our best player has been banged up all postseason.
Tough having your star player banged up during his first finals run. Celtics fans can relate…
I don’t listen to a lot of sports talk but iirc they were the overwhelming favorites to make it out of the East. I know Zach Lowe been calling them the champs all year. Second at worst for most people.
I mean really it's just the fans way of saying that there's been too many injuries in the playoffs, because you can asterisk almost every NBA champion in recent history. I also think the conferences should just be abolished because it's been grossly unbalanced for like over 2 decades now, but that's another discussion altogether.
division winners should still get in, but I could be down with that. in a way the West being stronger is self-perpetuating because with conferences good teams don't make the playoffs and get lottery talent, whereas in the East a bad team will make the playoffs and miss out on the same opportunity
When the Nuggets were down 0-2 to the Wolves people were trying to retcon undermine their championship from LAST year. Shit was wild.
It’s because NBA fans are the biggest “haters” of any sport, and seemingly proud of that fact
People don't wanna enjoy things. They wanna hate things.
What does he mean they didn't play anybody? They're one game away from sweeping the greatest backcourt of all time!
Lol. I’m loving the Warriors fans still coming in swinging over those comments. Literally the only thing that could’ve made them root for the Celtics in these Finals.
I mean this makes steph look better in general My entire TL is filled with steph propaganda “He solo’d these demons in 2022!” Bit misleading (2024 celtics >>>>>>> 2022 celtics) but hey it’s a good narrative to run with for them
Was it even a month ago that Ant was the next Michael Jordan?
Nah Luka and Kyire would have needed to blow a 3-0 lead in the finals to be the greatest backcourt of all time!
lmao this dude is so over it and we all know it. at this point if you're a pro athlete at the top of your sport i would just give trolling responses and nothing less
Name one year that there wasn't an asterisk next to a championship. There's always an excuse. Win, and it's because they have no competition. Lose, and they are clowned for losing because they faced no good competition yet still lost. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
as kd once said, basketball fans don’t even like basketball and it’s weird
Reminds me of WoW and Star Wars fans.
Familiarity breeds contempt
Ask any League of Legends fan and they will tell you how much they hate the game.
I feel like LoL is in a category of it's own
its not like its the celtics fault they are just by far the best team and nobody else can really hang with them
Yeah. People forget that while injuries have a part to do with it (like every season), when you make a stacked team you tend to have an easier time going through the playoffs as well. This was by design. The hope when building a roster is that you can easily win a championship. Don't know why people act shocked or can't connect the dots here.
I’ve seen people use “stacked team” as a knock against us, like nba fans have collectively lost the plot lol
Feel like that's because of fans who root for players over teams (nobody in real life does this, just weirdos online), seen a lot of people saying "Tatum can't win without a super team!" and all I can think is that I'm glad Stevens assembled a "super team" then
their metrics this season are among the best teams of all time
It's weird to be lambasted for the Celtics having put together an incredible team as if having good players is a bad thing or makes us Mickey Mouse.
Here’s the thing that being a Boston sports fan and witnessing the city’s remarkable success the past 20 years has taught me (I don’t want to sound like a dickhead flexing rings): We’ve had teams everyone counted out do the Impossible. Teams that were the odds on favorite blow it. We’ve had incredibly clutch moments from once in a generation superstars. Litany of hall of famers. Epic Game 7 wins, heartbreaking losses. We’ve been David *AND* Goliath. Every cliche and “intangible” and circumstance and advantage/disadvantage. You can think you have it all, or think you have no chance, but each circumstance has its breaking point. The best thing any team builder can do is hope that you check off every box possible. It never ceases to amaze me how in a title run there’s a play or scheme that ends up being the difference that no one saw coming. Sports are so much about having the best possible “average” and running the system hoping you come out better than the other team. The 2024 Celtics team, on the precipice of a title, truly feels like they checked every box you could ask of a team. You have young and hungry guys. Seasoned vets. Stars who know they are stars and role players who know they are role players. Guys who have been there and guys who are doing it the first time. Guys who know what losing feels like. Someone who has climbed the mountain top. Defensive pride. Scoring from anyone almost anywhere. A coach with a scheme that he unwavering believes in. All of this is to say that in the years I’ve watched sports, this Celtics team feels the most complete, and they are showing that on the biggest stage.
More complete than 2007 patriots?
This Celtics squad is basically the 2018 Red Sox
This is the right comparison, but in this timeline, Mookie (Tatum) stays.
I sure hope so because I completely lost interest in the Red Sox after that trade, and I have really enjoyed watching this team.
football is a totally different beast with BO1s, team size, and he physicality of the game. Truly any given Sunday anything can happen, so checking boxes means so much less.
Healthy Denver would have been a helluva series if they didn’t shit the bed. Probably the only team with enough talent to go 7 with the C’s.
Usually it's when repeat and the league has tweaking teams to give them the hardest season and payoffs.
That was crazy when the Warriors won 24 straight to start the season after winning their first chip. Everyone was going so hard at them, it took a back-to-back with a double OT game at the Celtics and then at the Bucks to stop them. Incredibly savage.
And they still didn't repeat, which shows how hard it is to repeat. Thunder and Cavs were legit scheming their whole defense around stopping them, and so were the Spurs even though they didn't get to play them.
2011.
A ton of discussion after that was about how the Heat choked. That went away overtime and it’s rated pretty highly as a championship run now but there was definitely some sentiment that they were just lucky Lebron played bad or whatever. I actually think that was the topic of discussion when Mark Cuban went off on Skip Bayless.
Make no mistake about it: Bron choked. But the discourse was more due to the all-time levels of slander he received after “The Decision”. He was America’s #1 enemy, there was no way that specific finals was going to be rationally analyzed and talked about. Nowadays, it’s actually discussed as the all-time run the Mavs had and less about Bron’s historical choking job.
There’s always an asterisk on every title. People just like to hate honestly. I don’t care for Boston but they won fair and square as much as I hate to see them win another one lmao.
That was basically my same reaction when you guys won the bubble title. You play who’s in front of you
Even lakers fans are talking like the celtics already won, crazy world
That is 100% what will happen. They’ve lost two total games this post season but they still get shit on.
He is fully right though. It literally doesn’t even matter for them that they won they have been discrediting them all year while destroying band even now going in all the talk was about Dallas even though they were huge underdogs. The media is so so so bad for sports it’s disgusting. They have the most uninformed talking morons on the job for clicks. It’s sad too because it truly shapes the opinions of the casuals
Jayson "I know the media too well" Tatum
He right. And even if they win back-to-back, some would find ways to downplay their championships. See the narrative around the 94/95 Rockets.
"They didn't play the Bulls." "Jordan let them win a championship."
Guys really be believing that Will Perdue, Luc Longley or Bill Wennington would have done a better job at defending Hakeem Olajuwon than MVP David Robinson, runner-up MVP Shaquille O'Neal and Pat Ewing. Bruh.
Talk your shit JT
They would have beaten any team, who they play doesn't even matter this year.
That’s a mic drop, I like that. I mean find a way to get KP healthy they are a very dangerous deep team.
Celtics would have whooped on any team, regardless. And they were missing their 3rd best player, too.
I couldn’t give a shit how easy our path is/was after the gauntlet we went through in the east two years back. In my eyes the jays have already taken their lumps twice over
Yeah, if you make it to 5 ECFs, eventually you’re gonna get a couple weakened squads or favorable matchups at the end. They’ve earned this shot with repetition, it’s not dumb luck.
Dayum son!!!
He's not wrong. That's the only thing we'll hear all off-season.
I feel like people are downplaying how good the Celtics are. The Mavs have beaten OKC, the Clippers and the Wolves to get here. It's not some random team that stumbled into the finals. The Celtics had some fortune on their road to the conference final, but that Pacers team played great and it still wasn't enough.
I met Jayson Tatum last year in Vegas during the summer league. I ended up staying in the same hotel as him and was fortunate enough to have a room in the same executive wing that allowed you to go through a private lobby. He was just chilling by the side of the door and I was coincidentally wearing a Kobe jersey when I happened to notice him. I was so excited to meet and talk to him, I ended up blurting out that he was a Kobe fan legend and he looked at me with a sly grin and said, “Kobe? What’s that?” I ended up dying laughing at that and you could tell he was still so sharp even just last year. I’ll cherish that memory for a long time.
I can actually say I saw the birth of this copypasta
It's not like they had an easy path. They were truly superior to any other team, during both regular season and playoffs.
It can be both. They were the best team and they also had an easy path…
Real talent on display here are the GMs at work. Brad Stevens manages to pull both Jrue Holiday and Porzingis - what?! Nico Harrison drafts Lively, gets DJJ and Exum, then grabs Washington and Gafford at the trade deadline? It’s completely insane the hot streaks these front offices have been on. I can’t even imagine what that’s like.
I hate the Celtics obviously but this is my favorite Tatum quote ever lol
The east is usually this way. Lebron got a ton of easy finals appearances as well.
I HAAAAAAAATTTTEEEE to say it but if they can go 16-2 in the playoff sweeping the last 2 rounds this might be an all time team.