As the NBA preseason tips-off amid a babble of anticipation amongst basketball fans, the Boston Celtics are setting their sights on a rare and coveted feat in the history of the Association: winning back-to-back championships.
After a dominant run in the 2023-2024 season, the Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks in five games to capture the franchise’s 18th banner. After a summer of celebration in Boston, there is no doubt that Celtics fans are eager for a second serving of the sweet taste of victory. However, it cannot be understated that NBA history casts a large shadow over its likelihood.
Only 13 teams in the NBA’s lifespan have won consecutive titles, with the last coming in 2017 and 2018 when the Golden State Warriors reached such a feat. Despite the odds stacked against the Celtics, they appear to be extremely well-positioned to overcome them.
Championship teams are built in the preseason, where mindsets and buy-ins are established throughout the entirety of the organization. Head Coach Joe Mazzulla has grasped this concept as he enters into his third season with the team, seemingly setting aside the successes of last year.
“I mean, I think you got to be honest, right, like at the end of the day, whether we won or lost, if we’re standing up here at this point the goal is to win,” an emotionless Mazzulla said at the Celtics’ media day on Sept. 24th. “We want to win a championship every single year.”
The coaching staff has clearly emphasized that winning titles is the annual expectation. This winning standard has been adopted by the players, who all refuse to get too high on winning just one title.
“We’ve got to climb that mountain top again,” said veteran big man Al Horford in a media day interview with NBC Sports Boston. “We were at the top, yeah, we feel good, but that’s kind of behind us now and we have to build it back up.”
Speaking of motivated players, the Celtics’ superstar tandem of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown appear more driven than ever.
Both Tatum and Brown finished the 2023-24 season on top of the world after leading the Celtics to a Finals victory. While the off-season began with commemoration and praise from across the basketball landscape, the Olympic Games brought an unforgiving amount of drama and criticism to the Celtics’ stars.
In Brown’s case, the USA Men’s National Team needed to replace an injured Kawhi Leonard. Brown became a prime candidate to fill in the vacant roster spot. However, Team USA opted for his teammate Derrick White instead. While White is an exceptional player in his own right, questions arose over why Brown, an NBA All-Star and reigning Finals MVP, was ignored.
Reports came flying out that Brown was considered a “selfish” player who would disrupt the team’s chemistry. Despite Brown publicly stating his dissatisfaction with the process, he’s made clear indications that his confidence will not be diluted during the upcoming campaign.
The Celtics’ President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens seems unbothered by Brown’s Team USA drama. He stated, “And one of the best things about Jaylen is whether he gets the call and makes the team or doesn’t get the call, he’s going to use it as motivation to get better. So I know he’s working and he’s excited about improving.”
When looking at Tatum’s offseason criticism, it’s important to note that he was positioned to be a significant piece of Team USA ahead of the 2024 Olympic tournament. Instead, Tatum was benched and only played in four of the six games for the Men’s National Team averaging a measly 17.7 minutes per game.
Tatum was heavily scrutinized as a result, as social media platforms were bombarded with debates over Tatum’s value as a player since he couldn’t earn minutes for Team USA at the world’s biggest sports competition. Nonetheless, Tatum’s signature calm nature persisted. “I wasn’t moping around. I didn’t have an attitude. I wasn’t angry at the world,” said Tatum in an interview with The Athletic’s Jared Weiss.
Similarly to Brown using his summertime drama to fuel his motivation for the Celtics’ impending championship defense, Tatum can draw from his experiences to once again prove to the basketball world why he is one of the game’s elite players. This would greatly help propel the Celtics to another championship banner in 2025.
In totality, this Celtics team is not like most reigning NBA champions. There is no lingering “championship hangover” that plagues defending champions, the roster and coaching staff is practically the same as last season, and their best players are as driven as ever to prove they rightfully belong amongst the NBA’s elite.
With the season tipping off by raising banner number 18 on October 22nd, Boston sports fans should be overjoyed for what ought to be another great season of Celtic basketball.