As the Celtics take their first wee baby steps in a quest for a title repeat, it’s incumbent on Boston to drop any lingering baggage from a dramatic offseason.
At their annual preseason Media Day, Celtics top brass and players fielded questions about their confidence and continuity, returning the bulk of the 2023-2024 championship roster. On paper, the team looks as familiar as ever and returns coach Joe Mazzulla for his third year.
“It’s kind of weird, actually, having some stability, because over the last courses of years we’ve had coaches change, coaches leave in the middle of the season, trades,” Jaylen Brown said.
But “on paper” rarely reflects reality, and the events of this summer exposed how tenuous even the best professional sports franchise circumstances can be.
The reality is that the Celtics have the cloud of uncertainty hanging over their heads. Who will ultimately buy this storied franchise? How will the eye-popping price tag of the roster and basketball penalties leveled by the new collective bargaining agreement against high spenders impact the team’s title windows?
A big, green, “For Sale” sign and rumors about the team’s financials weren’t all the team has to compartmentalize when they return to the court. No, there was the Team USA drama: first, Jaylen Brown was snubbed for the Olympic squad. Then, Jayson Tatum weathered his own Olympic slight when he was benched for two games in Paris.
The nicest man in professional sports, Derrick White, said there’s no awkwardness around the Team USA hullabaloo now that the team is back together in one room.
“No, there’s no elephants in there. That was never an issue.
That was never really needed to be talked about,” he said.
Hopefully the nicest man in professional sports is telling the truth, because aside from catastrophic injuries, drama is the only thing that could sink this team’s return to the Finals. Even Kristaps Porzingis, who sat down at the podium with an audible groan, says his injury rehabilitation from a torn medial retinaculum is going swimmingly. He’s running and playing through slight contact right now.
Eastern Conference foes like the Knicks and the Sixers bolstered their rosters, but they’re still in a completely different tier than Boston. The Bucks’ stars are aging and still need to prove themselves functional under Doc Rivers.
The Celtics hit all the other right talking notes on Media Day: this preseason return feels the same as any other, the biggest challenge to a repeat is overcoming human nature, they have to manage their own expectations, and never get too high or too low.
It’s possible the really big issues looming over this squad are so existential, they won’t occupy much grey matter for stars like Brown and Tatum in their night-to-night pursuit for another banner. On paper, they’ve got everything and everyone they need to repeat.
But in reality, the clock is ticking on the Celtics. The Celtics’ 2025-26 roster is projected to cost more than $500 million in combined salaries and tax penalties. The Grousbeck family will try to sell 51% of their stake in the team over the next year or so. Elephants be damned, there’s no time for an off-court circus.