Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will play in their first NBA Finals Thursday night. They've proven a lot of people wrong along the way, from anonymous NBA coaches to Celtics legends.
This is the ultimate "F-U tour."
Pro athletes talk about getting disrespected all of the time. The mantra is so overused, that even Tom Brady was playing the "nobody believed in us" card while the Patriots were on their way to winning their sixth Super Bowl.
But Tatum and Brown have legitimate gripes. They've been pilloried over the last two years as selfish 20-somethings who care more about individual accomplishments than team success. Tatum's fixation on making the All-NBA team and constant bellyaching to officials only further fueled the narrative.
The Celtics imploded in the bubble against the Heat and were miserable underachievers last year. After a 16-19 start this season, the doubts about Tatum and Brown only grew louder.
"I'll be honest, for myself, there have been times where I questioned, am I the right person to kind of lead a group like this," Tatum admitted to reporters this week. "You know, never like doubted myself, but just moments after some of those losses and the tougher parts of the season."
The criticism came from all angles. Kyrie Irving was the first big name to publicly question Tatum and Brown, when he said his younger teammates "don't know what it takes to be a championship level team." Irving made that proclamation that in January 2019.
Three years later, the Celtics embarrassed Irving's Nets in the first round of the playoffs. Even Kevin Durant wasn't enough to make up the difference.
Irving has never advanced past the second round without LeBron James.
Meanwhile, Tatum and Brown have played in three Eastern Conference Finals, and Brown has appeared in four.
In hindsight, the vitriol launched towards Tatum and Brown was premature. They're only in their mid-20s, and sometimes, it takes a while for young stars to fully ascend. But that piece of logic was apparently lost on coaches and talent evaluators across the NBA. Back in December, a Western Conference scout said Brown and Tatum "aren't making anybody better." An unnamed Eastern Conference coach lambasted Tatum even further.
"Jayson Tatum is about Jayson Tatum," the assistant told ESPN. "I don't think he cares about winning now, and if he does, it is on his terms. He doesn't want to score 15 and win. He wants to score 39 and win."
As it turns out, that assistant was flat-out wrong. Look no further than Game 5 of the ECF, when Tatum's shot wasn't falling in the first half. But he made an impact on the defensive end and facilitated his teammates. Tatum finished with 12 rebounds and nine assists.
It was a sign that Tatum has truly arrived, perhaps more than any other performance this postseason.
Anonymous NBA officials weren't the only folks ripping the double J's. In a radio interview, Robert Parish said Brown and Tatum "don't have the ability to make their teammates better."
That must've stung. For an organization as steeped in tradition as the Celtics, it was telling that one of their all-time greats went on the offensive against their current stars.
On Sunday, Tatum acknowledged he heard the criticism. He says it served as motivation. ""I think all of those things have helped," he said. "From saying that we need to split the group up or get rid of somebody or me and JB can't play together. That fueled us to figure it out and not run from it."
The Celtics haven't reached their apex yet. As Derrick White said, they have a proclivity of making things hard on themselves. They were inexcusable no-shows against the Heat in Game 6 and nearly gave away Game 7. Maybe they still aren't ready to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy.
But they're closer than Irving and their array of critics ever thought they would be. That's worth something.
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NESN's grand miscalculation: On the surface, "NESN 360" seems like a smart and innovative idea. NESN is the first regional sports network to launch its own streaming service, which wisely caters to the exploding number of cord-cutters.
But the price is ridiculous at $30 per month. Really?! Consumers can buy HBO Max, Netflix and Apple+ for the same fee. ESPN+ costs just $7 per month.
Even worse, the service is only available to those who live in New England, who are obviously far likelier to have NESN than those located outside of the region.
Given NESN's dearth of compelling original programming — no offense to "Dining Playbook" — anybody who purchase "NESN 360" is probably only interested in streaming Red Sox and Bruins games. While that's fine, it's hard to fathom many people being content with only watching the Sox and B's.
It comes down to a simple math equation. Most people lose cable to save money. But adding "NESN 360" to a streaming bundle isn't very cost efficient.
It's hard to see the market here.
Celtics keep drawing ratings: The Celtics continue to capture NBA audiences. Game 7 of the Celtics-Heat series was the most-watched conference final game in four years. Boston's Game 7 victory over the Bucks was the most-watched Eastern Conference Semifinals game since 2012.
The Celtics may never be a premier destination for players, but they are a premier organization.
NBA playoff ratings are up on the whole, and the Celtics-Warriors Final should serve as an excellent crescendo. Judging by the ratings numbers, Tatum and Brown have already arrived.
JVG and Woj in Covid protocol: So maybe Jeff Van Gundy had Covid after all. ESPN's lead NBA analyst and Adrian Wojnarowski will both miss Game 1 of the NBA Finals due to Covid, reports the New York Post's Andrew Marchand.
That wasn't hard to guess, given that Van Gundy sounded awful while calling Game 7. The question is, when did he test positive? Mike Breen tested positive over the weekend, and thus, missed the Celtics-Heat finale.
This would've been a scandal last year, or even six months ago. We've come a long way.
