Throughout the first few weeks of the regular season, coach Joe Mazzulla has discovered what works and what doesn’t: tapering the rotation, trimming Anfernee Simons’ minutes when it’s clear he doesn’t have it, and putting Chris Boucher on ice to free up minutes for the emerging Neemias Queta and the hot-and-cold Luka Garza.
It’s no secret what Boston lacked heading into the season and continues to miss—a glaring void that stares you in the face during every game: the absence of elite passing, dribbling, a steady hand at the wheel during moments of crisis, and rebounding whenever Queta is on the bench.
Not having Jayson Tatum around makes it easier for opposing teams to strangle the offense, especially in the last two minutes. The Celtics in the clutch lack sufficient answers, and the offense reverts to a “cross your fingers and hope it works out” philosophy. Boston sports a 2-6 record in close games. Their offensive rating sits at 118.4; defensive rating at 112.9; and net rating at +5.4. Derrick White and Payton Pritchard are solid players, but filling in for the role Jrue Holiday once did is above their pay grade. They’re better suited as connective passers, not table-setters.
Johnston Joe is a hard-nosed Rhode Islander.
How the Celtics cobbled together 7 wins in the season’s first 14 games stems from a hard-nosed, barebones approach that takes every game to the wire. If I were to tell you White was shooting just 35.9% to start the year, you’d assume the team ranked amongst the dregs. But it’s how players like him have contributed on defense even when being challenged offensively that is a testament to “Mazzulla-Ball” and its flexibility. Defense is the real bulwark of this team that’s held together by duct tape—White being the best shot-blocking guard on any roster.
The aforementioned big man, Queta, and his 7-foot frame—able to shift his hips like a soccer player on the pitch to stay with his man even outside the paint—keeps the defense from having to collapse inside to help. His 108.7 defensive rating, on top of his +13.1 on/off-court rating, showcases the rewards of Boston’s years of development of him since coming over from Sacramento. It was once far-fetched to imagine Queta being anything but a rotational big man; now, you have to imagine a contract extension is in play if he keeps this up.
There is no need to be afraid of Jordan Walsh when he is off the court.
In the middle of their in-between season, the Celtics have managed to keep themselves interesting. Jordan Walsh is slowly emerging as a credible defender, having back-to-back solid efforts against Tyrese Maxey and James Harden. The younger players have earned their keep.
Fans have labeled the Celtics’ approach to the season “Ethical Tanking”—losing games while maintaining competitiveness. While it’s likelier to land the Celtics outside of the lottery, perhaps it leaves open the possibility that they aren’t far from re-entering the title conversation when Tatum comes back next season.
Vinny Jace appears on the Entitled Weekend podcast. He does not livein Johnston.
The expectations for this Celtics season were always tough to gauge. For one, not having your best player—Jayson Tatum, out with an Achilles tear—caps their ceiling dramatically. The dire salary cap situation forced management to prioritize jettisoning big contracts to clear the books, meaning free agents like Guerschon Yabusele and in-house vets Al Horford and Luke Kornet weren’t options.
It’s a bitter pill for a fan base riding the Jayson Tatum contention wave since 2018. One wrong step, and the franchise is mired in a rut not seen since the Big Three era cleared out.
The solace in this dour hour? Maybe the Celtics land among the NBA’s dregs, in the lottery, where a top-flight prospect rejuvenates a roster quietly desperate for youth and trade assets.
But even this talent-depleted squad isn’t bad enough for lottery glory. Like it or not, they house a Finals MVP (Jaylen Brown), an All-Defensive guard (Derrick White), and the reigning Sixth Man (Payton Pritchard). Not to mention 3-and-D sharpshooter Sam Hauser—a marksman any team would covet.
It’s not rocket science, or aerospace engineering.
Yes, beyond that, they lack dudes who dribble, pass, and rebound. But the NBA—especially the East—is littered with worse. On any given night, Jaylen Brown can have flames shooting out his ass, scoring from a phone booth. Derrick White can rim-protect like a center. This leaves room for the scrubs role players to punch above: Minott, Garza, Boucher, Simons – channeling ghosts of better days.
Josh Minott, Luka Garza, Chris Boucher—and especially Anfernee Simons—aren’t championship pieces. Simons? Damian Lillard shot selection without the justification. But some nights, he splashes enough to steal W’s.
We all have a role to play,
The three-point revolution proved basketball is math, not art. Bomb from deep, randomize outcomes, level the field. The Celtics are 3-4. Only the victims of one blow out, despite trash stats: 43.6% FG (27th), 32.6% 3PT (26th). No surprise—they lost three 7-foot rim protectors, replaced by barely warm bodies.
How bad are they? A 42-win squad waiting for luck? The worst clutch team ever, dropping 55 by slim margins? This ain’t 2014—no Vitor Faverani heater flipping Ws to Ls. There are made men here. That scares me.
This team wasn’t built to compete. It was built to carve cap space for Tatum/Brown 2.0. We’re too early to predict that era.
‘It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future’. Karl Kristian Steincke
Vinny Jace appears on the Entitled Weekend podcast. He does not livein Denmark.
Are we sure Kornet’s gone? Shams might just be using the Celtics for clicks.
During the NBA Draft my dog ran and hid under the bed when Adam Silver came out.
I believe the AP Hockey Stylebook would prefer “Hagsy” to be James Hagen’s Bruins nickname.
Is the L in Luka Garza’s name silent, like the H in Hugo Gonzalez’s?
Jahmai Webster should tell Bradfo his secret to keeping shirts wrinkle-free.
What is going on at the Wimbledon Women’s draw?!
Welcome to Boston Alex Steeves, Tanner Jeannot, Sean Kuraly, and Michael Eyssimon.
Keep on that grind, JT. The fan base and the city are behind you 100%. Before you know it you’re gonna be dominating the league again. There’s still so much more left to be written in your Celtics story.
Did the Bruins make a good first round draft pick simply because their internet cut out and they were on autodraft?
Cakes are cooking for Imelda Marcos, Robert Ito, Polly Holliday, Richard Petty, John H. Sununu, Larry David, Saul Rubinek, Roy Bittan, Johnny Colla, Brandel Chamblee, Jose Canseco, Mark Tewksbury, Monie Love, Jared Palmer, Troy Brown, Éric Dazé, Owain Yeoman, Joe Thornton, Michelle Branch, Johnny Weir, Ashley Tisdale, Lindsay Lohan, Alex Morgan, Margot Robbie, and Saweetie.
Are we ever going to hear the results of the Lifshatz referee investigations?
Green Line B Branch Update: Regular service has resumed. This delay has cleared.
Hugo Gonzalez? The many Spanish Celtics fans I know will be thrilled.
Kudos to you for finding out the identity of the guy who uses his real name on Twitter.
I hoped Marchand came back to the Bruins so they can trade him at the deadline again for another #1 pick.
I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic when I say the 2-6 show on WEEI is the actual worst regular show either station has ever trotted out. Which is saying something.
Feel like I should be having a Maine Beer Co. brew right now out of respect to Cooper Flagg.
At random events for work I tell people that Andy Wong is my uncle.
Hey gang of stick-tappers, this week’s Phrase that Pays is, “You just have to let the draft come to you.”
2025 NBA Draft had no shortage of cryers.
Whichever Market Basket executive pledges to once again start selling their hot dog rolls in packs of 8 instead of 6 has my vote to replace Artie T.
Yesterday at this time it was 94° with a real feel of 104°. In my part of RI that is NOT normal. Today it’s 65° and cloudy with a slight breeze. 30 degrees of difference in 24 hours is nuts.
Lying about being a women’s basketball insider is deranged.
Wander Franco got 2-year suspended sentence for raping a 14-year-old? Was Jerry Thornton the judge?
I miss when Rod Thorn used to do the second round of the draft.
Overrate the Kowloon some more.
News Item: Phil Pressey has been named the new Head Coach of the Maine Celtics.
Don’t feel bad for Damian Lillard. This is a win-win. Dame had a player option for next summer that he was considering not exercising. No secret living away from family in Milwaukee was a challenge. So he gets his $ and is now an unrestricted free agent free to go where HE wants.
Hey Sydney Sweeney, fair warning, Tom Brady has to be an awful fuck. You know he can’t just enjoy it; he’s got to execute in all three phases.
Bobby Bonilla Day BWAHAHAHAHAHA! AMIRITE?
You know you’ve been in this draft watching game a long time when the player your team drafts looks like your son’s best friend.
Roberto Alomar gave Shaughnessy’s niece AIDS. Well, that’s how I heard it.
Honk if you remember when Pete Abe tweeted out a screen shot of some random Instagram girl’s ass and then pretended like he got hacked.
You can tell Bill and Ryen are serious basketball analysts by how often they refer to players as “assets.”
Was going thru my whiskey bottles to grab one for vacation and couldn’t believe how much i have in the house. Haven’t touched it since December. Wowowo allowing my gray matter neurons to heal.
A nice screened in porch is the perfect summer amenity.
Marner, if he ends up with Boston, will change spelling of last name to MAH-nuh. Just to assimilate.
I like my bands in business suits, I watch them on TV I’m working out most every day and watching what I eat They tell me that it’s good for me, but I don’t even care I know that it’s crazy I know that it’s nowhere But there is no denying that
It’s hip to be square It’s hip to be square It’s hip to be square So hip to be square.
Yeah, the guy who got fired from the two-hour Saturday morning show is tapped into the Celtics’ front office.
A: Chico, Burrito, and Shaman.
In New England culture sometimes all carbonated soft drinks are referred to as tonic.
Bruins should take a look at Brynov Tsaevarski.
If BYU If doesn’t want their student-athletes having sex they should just have them all get married.
“One may know how to draft without knowing how to do it” – Sun Tzu Dupont
Did Jordon Hudson outbid Pablo Torre for a pair of heels on eBay? WTF.
Get well soon, Red Panda.
Best bet for the weekend: the busiest Fourth of July ever for travel.
Hearing reports traffic is backed up from the Cape bridges to the gas tanks.
Material from interviews, wire services, Twitter, Meta, other writers, league and team sources, and the members of #the15 were used in this column. HBD USA.
And happy birthday to supermodel, actress and Texas gal Jerry Hall, who appeared in the 1992 film, ‘Freejack.’
Before their time with us was done, we sent the Intern Street Team out to ask the locals what was left out of Bill Simmons’ Celtic City documentary they wanted to have in there. Here are their answers-
“If there was a connection between the Old Boston Garden not having hot water and the fact that the Celtics routinely beat teams comprised of plumbers and other tradesmen during the Russell Era.”
“The ‘Lucky doesn’t take cabs’ sitiation.”
“Whether Len Bias dying also led to the end of the painter’s cap supremacy among hats.”
“Glenn Ordway not being interviewed. At all.”
“Where in the Greater Boston Area one can find Wyc Grousebeck & Emelia Fazzalari’s luxe tequila brand Cincoro available for purchase?”
“How did Dino Radja end up as your best offensive player?”
‘Coach Jimmy Rogers’ hair care routine.”
“The Billups trade was completely ignored. Along with The Ricktator’s general incompetence.”
“Why did Bill bench Butler in the Super Bowl?”
“Larry Bird & Quinn Buckner’s ill-starred visit to Chelsea’s on May 16, 1985.”
“Stojko Vrankovic in the ‘glasnost’ era.”
“How many Celtics game Bill Simmons watched at the Garden while sitting in the SportsDad’s lap.”
“C’s mascot/good luck charm Busty Heart.”
“I can’t believe they didn’t even cover Tommy talking about Aaron Baynes’s monster cock.”
“It needed much more Deuce Tatum. He is EVERYTHING!”
“Danny Ainge being a Mormon.”
“The ‘Go back to Africa and hunt some lions’ story.”
Number 11 in your programs, NBA Sixth Man Winner for 2025.
One thing you don’t wanna do is FAFO with the Celtics girlies.
Has Pedro Pascal’s schedule been too busy to do a Rosie Ruiz film?
“Griffin Canning” sounds like a mortgage-free Western Mass charity drive.
Episode 7, Reggie Lewis. Man.
Irons is just jealous because I have two scoops of raisins.
The TNA Champion getting a WrestleMania match? Unreal. The night gets even better.
One more mock draft and I’m throwing up in my mouth…..
At least the Celtics didn’t also list Tatum on the injury report for his emotional problems.
Cakes are cooking for Lee Majors, Blair Brown, Joyce DeWitt, Terry Moor, Judy Davis, Valerie Bertinelli, George Lopez, Magnús Ver Magnússon, Donna Weinbrecht, Melina Kanakaredes, Stan Frazier, Rachel Hetherington, Patrick Poulin, Sam Madison, Andruw Jones, John Cena, Jaime King, Joanna Krupa, Jessica Stam, Nicole Vaidišová, Gigi Hadad, Jake Kiszka, Josh Kiszka, and Chloe Kim.
Moxie is trans root beer. Tastes like a tree.
My comic book “Reasonable Doubt – In the Karen Read Case” is now available on Amazon. Dive into the details THEY don’t want you to see!
Laughter is the best medicine…except for Kratom.
I don’t know why everyone cares about RFK Jr’s thoughts on autism. That guy is retarded!
Five straight playoff losses for Linus Ullmark.
I question anyone that moves to Kentucky on purpose.
Only a sucker would have bet against the New England Revolution on the 250th Anniversary of Lexington and Concord.
Showers with your SO really are the best.
Hey gang of slumping underachievers! This week’s Phrase that Pays is, “Look at me! I’m irritating old people!”
The tanning dye on Lucy’s hands is egregious.
Were there still dinosaur sportswriters bemoaning the 24 second shot clock ‘gimmick’ forty-five years after it was introduced?
I only leave the house when required.
My promise for Easter I will Never get on a Boeing 737 Plane.
It makes me sad a lot of ‘yall ‘will never know ab watermelon season in Arkansas.
I saw a pic of Kate Peter and she’s kinda hot.
Boston Celtics fans should be wearing green IMO. The NBA franchise I most associate with black attire is probably the Orlando Magic.
How come none of you MFers never told me how bomb sourdough bread is?
Sal, Your the Leader of the Band. Thank you.
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world Dart Adams exists.
Is Jamal Webster serious with these questions?
Nelson Cruz has one of the most unusual career shapes of all time. He was literally five or six years late getting a foothold, for a player or that quality. Then he was short of the Hall of Fame, but not all that much short. Hit 464 homers, and wasn’t a bad right fielder.
What are they gonna do, melt down and tell me I’m worthless? My wife already does that.
Have to be believe KPerk needs help buttoning his shirt.
The only thing more pathetic than the Dondy/Ty holiday pairing is listening to them and trying to engage the show via Twitter.
The American Four of the Original Six should have a charity golf scramble.
I’m going back someday Come what may, to Blue Bayou. Where you sleep all day and the catfish play On Blue Bayou.
All those fishin’ boats with their sails afloat If I could only see. That familiar sunrise through sleepy eyes How happy I’d be.
Fun Fact: The slam dunk was invented by star player Curly “Heebie” Kikelberg, who helped lead CCNY to both the NCAA and NIT championships in 1950. He would later throw himself off the Brooklyn Bridge after being implicated in a point-shaving scandal.
The College of Cardinals has won zero SEC Championships.
I’m glad Yaz’s grandson has had himself a decent MLB career. Just makes me smile.
Alice Cook; you still got it, kid.
Honk if you remember Rhéal Cormier.
Peter Schrager makes Chris Gasper look like Warren Beatty.
Andy Lugo, now he can flip a bat.
The amount of talent Nico Harrison has dumped is insane.
Why don’t they make the whole Red Sox bullpen out of hot-headed Cubans?
PK Subban should change his name to PK Acho.
People are frecklier than you expect when meeting them in person.
Best bet for the weekend: Green Line: Shuttle Buses replace service between Government Center and Medford/Tufts for maintenance work. Union Square riders can use Bus Routes 109, 87, or 91 to connect to shuttles or the Orange Line.
And a happy birthday to Slovak tennis player Daniela Hantuchová.
Material from interviews, wire services, Twitter, Meta, other writers, league and team sources, Bill James, and the members of #the15 were used in this column. Can we have class outside today?
The Celtics can’t just have an off-game or not play their best. Any loss is an indictment of their system and the coaching that goes into it. Like the Dynasty Patriots when every win was a formality, and every loss was a referendum on the team’s legacy. It’s fucking tiresome. They lost by 4, so chill the fuck out and shut the fuck up. This team is fine.
Rickey doesn’t like this talk about Rickey being dead. Hopefully someone tells his John Olerud story again.
My favorite Shaq endorsement is printer ink.
Say what you will about Craig Breslow, but a guy who spends his Christmas Eve searching for Mickey Gasper trade partners is a guy I want running my baseball team.
Milt Pappas is a great name.
So the late and bafflingly lamented Bunky Donaldson was a negative piece of shit even during the most impressive dynasty in team sports history? Good guy! He will not be missed in this quarter, despite his savant-like ability to ‘phone a restaurant and make reservations.’
Mina Kimes providing *significantly* more insight and information than RGIII and Teo is really tough for the “you have to play football to analyze football” crowd.
Pneumonia is psychosomatic.
You can have a turnover-prone running back and win games. You can have a turnover-prone quarterback and win games. But it’s tough to win games having both.
I’ve had a theory since I was a kid but I’ve never known if it makes any sense, but it’s that the sharp/crisp sound of the audio of movies in theaters is meant to subliminally make you want to buy popcorn because of how crisp popcorn sounds when you say it.
Cakes are cooking for John Walsh, Carlton Fisk, Chris Chambliss, Ozzie Smith, Peter Woods, David Sedaris, Gail Tatterson, Karen Smith, Adrian Newey, Temuera Morrison, Lars Ulrich, Tim Legler, Jared Leto, Ryan Berube, Tiffany Brissette, Tony Brackens, Chris Daughtry, Kit Harrington, and Lucille Burdge.
Also, is it just me or are popcorn ceilings designed to make you reflexively say, “did you finish?”
Getting my period tomorrow and sobbing after two drinks today because Randy Moss doesn’t have a super bowl ring.
Wait, what?
Dickie V is going to Beetlejuice his cancer back.
Newburyport Train 146 (7:54 am from Newburyport) is cancelled due to a mechanical issue. Passengers will be accommodated by Train 148 (8:49 am from Newburyport). Passengers between Beverly and N Station may also consider Train 106 (8:13 am from Rockport).
I’m trying to figure out what ‘Sopan Deb’ is an anagram for.
Stormy Buonantony can’t be real.
Orlando and Philadelphia going with the old Pistons the end theory. Just foul every play. They won’t call them all.
I don’t have Netflix so I can’t watch football.
Hey gang, this week’s Phrase that Pays is, “Nothing good ever comes from fucking around with a white girl.”
not even a full hour after everyone left did i start taking down my christmas decor. not because i was sick of it, but because the post christmas depression is too real.
Lobsters aren’t fish.
I’d like to know more about the welding school gap year.
When the literal sound of unclean audio is best explained by the word POP you might need to huddle up and run it again, stupid.
I had a dream last night that I met Sylvester Stallone and his wife. His hair was kinda blonde, which was surprising, but all I wanted to do is tell him how big a fan Kirk Minihane was of his and how the Rocky movies were some of his favorite movies (as if that was some big revelation). He was a great guy (duh!) and I was about to take a photo with him so I could share with you all on X, but then I woke up damnit. I swear I didn’t even take a gummy before bed. But alas, here’s to a very Merry Christmas to Sly and Kirk as well!
The name “Bregman” means a person who lives near a river or stream. So I’m sure the Charles would work in his favor.
Fun Fact: Bruins defenseman “Terrible” Ted Green set NHL penalty record of 3 minors, 2 majors & 2 game misconducts in a game against NY Rangers in NY’s Madison Square Garden on this day in 1968.
Have you ever met anyone that watches Charlie Moore?
I get all the rapes and pedophilia at Happy Valley, but what an atmosphere going on there during the college football playoffs.
Every time I read Shalise Manza Young’s name I hear Jose Feliciano saying it to the tune of Feliz Navidad:
Shalise Manza Young, Shalise Manza Young. She’s not with her family she’s in Foxboro, watching Patrick Chung.
Shalise Manza Young. Shalise Manza Young. Shalise Manza Young She went into the baño, Oh, what have they done?
I want to wish you a Merry Christmas, It’s just a shame when somebody pisses, On the seat where the chica sits-es, And then the crust from the Pizza Huuuuut!
Walker Buehler feels like an excellent addition for the Boston Red Sox. I hope their new starters from Vanderbilt (Buehler) & Tennessee (Garrett Crochet) can get along in Boston.
Tony Brothers looks like someone tried to Grok “Black Pete Abraham.”
Had a Buffalo Chicken Wrap for lunch, could have used more blue cheese tho.
Honk if you remember the last time there was a White Christmas.
Six-time NBA All-Star Jimmy Butler prefers a trade out of Miami ahead of the Feb. 6 deadline according to league sources.
19 pitchers in baseball history have finished the season with exactly 10 wins and 18 losses. The first pitcher ever to do that was Ned Garvin, with the Cubs in 1900. The last pitcher to do it was Jerry Garvin, with the Blue Jays in 1977.
Beyoncé should have had to rope a calf.
I swear a lot of American pro sports teams have teenagers running their social media accounts.
Travis Kelce sounds like he’s trying to make up for Mahomes’ lack of blackness.
Best bet for the weekend: white boy Ladd McConkey.
Did Mina ask to be dressed like an anime villain? If so: nailed it.
Material from interviews, wire services, Twitter, Meta, other writers, league and team sources, Bill James, and the members of #the15 were used in this column. I’m your dream, make you real.
And a happy Boxing Day birthday to English singer Jade Thirlwall, formerly of Little Mix, which could be a band, or a village.
A loaded Celtics team faced a hidden challenge heading into the preseason: How would they manage the minutes when Al Horford wasn’t on the floor, given Kristaps Porzingis would be out until at least Christmas?
Maybe this guy?
The Celtics’ offensive strategy was well-balanced this season: – They ranked among the top 3 teams in three-point attempts – Simultaneously maintained a strong post presence (2nd in post-up attempts) – Led the league in post-up efficiency (1.13 PPP)
Queta doesn’t shoot threes, but he dunks. Like, a lot. In Boston’s first seven games, Queta dunked eight times in 97 minutes(!). Playing against a team lacking in size like Golden State, Queta feasted, dunking four times in 28 minutes in his largest stint of the season. Queta dominated with four dunks in 28 minutes, his longest playing time of the season.
Boston doesn’t need to be great in the paint to win. They do need to be a credible threat so when the defense collapses they aren’t discombobulated when the threes aren’t falling and they’re being blocked from the basket.
Last season backup center Luke Kornet played the role as an effective stop-gap big man. He was a steady presence, able to use his long arms to disrupt offenses by effectively protecting the rim and jumping to block the shooters view of the basket, which became nominally known as the “Kornet Contest.” However, his ability to score efficiency fell off. His previous mark of 70% from the field now sits at 58%.
Queta: – Opponents shoot 59% from 6 feet – 5.7 attempts per game
Kornet: – Opponents shoot 62% from 6 feet – 4.4 attempts per game
The trade-offs between Queta and Kornet are: Kornet is longer, can cause disruption on the defensive side more effectively than Queta. Queta is way more athletic and provides an energy reminiscent to Robert Williams. Dunks are among the most valuable shots in the modern NBA, and Queta possessing the ability to bulldoze his way to the basket at will is a helluva ace to have up your sleeve.
Queta, not Tatum or White or Jaylen Brown, is Boston’s leader in net rating this season at plus-20.2. Sitting prettily above Shai-Gilgeous Alexander at 7th on the net rating rankings. A lot of this has to do with Tatum’s effectiveness with the all-bench lineup, where the fruits of Joe Mazzulla’s brand of basketball really takes shape. Generating clean open looks from beyond the arc, that also makes the paint more accessible for players like Queta to capitalize off lobs and PnRs.
Given these promising early returns from Queta’s performance, there’s strong reason to believe he’ll provide excellent value on his current contract. If Queta can merely do what Kornet did last season and keep the team afloat in the dog days, he’ll exceed the value of his small $2.2 million contract.
2.4 million USD is 2,252,886.51 Euros in Queta’s native Portugal
Vinny Jace appears on the Entitled Weekend podcast. He does not live in Albufiera.
America loves a good story, fraught with adversity and culminating with redemption. Rising above the obstacles to accomplish something greater and to etch yourself in history for eternity. Redemption used to be the most illuminating part of an illustrious career. Bill Russell in 1968, Magic Johnson in 1985, LeBron in 2012. Athletes soaring to new heights after falling to their lowest point. The old veteran regaining his past glory. The face of the franchise haunted by humiliation comes back to put his demons to bed. The villain cutting through the chorus of boos to achieve what’s eluded him. What follows these moments of triumph is a reckoning from the detractors. A begrudging respect is formed, then admiration that drowns the voices of the past. Any remaining dissenters calling Magic Johnson “Tragic” or LeBron James a choke artist are, like Hiroo Onoda, hiding in the woods fighting a battle that long ago was loss.
Today it is considered incidental whether the script gets flipped. What was written will remain. In an era where you have superstars in various small markets, the allure of bigger markets is dimmer, yet you’ll find more animus for them rather than admiration. What is worse? To be hated or viewed with apathy? The Denver Nuggets won the title, the most team centric championship since the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers. Nikola Jokic dismantled Kevin Durant and LeBron with startling ease, playing like a 6’10 Larry Bird, acting as the fulcrum for a watch making sure all the pieces inside mesh together in perfect harmony. We used to celebrate pureness in basketball, promote team-friendly organizations that did not have the superstar who needed every little thing catered to them. But instead, they were treated with apathy and the immediate demand they’d do it again. Denver fans could only seek validation in their small, niche communities while outsiders glorified the opponents they slain.
A year later the narrative shifted away from anointing the team they collectively yawned at when they won the first time and searched high and low for a team to crown anyone but the league’s best. Players went through the superstar car wash, long exposés, and podcast segments dedicated to Anthony Edwards as if it was possible for a team to win the title when their best player is 22. The building up of stars only to tear them down and by the time they do climb the mountain all you remember is the negative moments.
(The only champion not subjected to this cruelty is the Kansas City Chiefs. Who, unlike their New England Patriots dynastic counterparts never face media scrutiny or fan fatigue. Just last month Patrick Mahomes threw a behind the back pass in a preseason game that awed fans. The Chiefs are lionized, their opponents serving as mere fodder and built up solely to heighten their sacrifice for the glory of the one true franchise.)
In the Era of The Hater, they must pick one or two instances where they do not hate to maximize the effect of hating while online. To contrast and compare, to trigger fans by demanding their favorite reach expectations one cannot possibility reach. Mahomes and LeBron are the gold standard and anyone else is mincemeat. Even as the NBA moves away from the LeBron era into one defined by parity it is still a stretch for many to accept many players have passed near 40-year-old superstar. To say you prefer a 26-year-old Jayson Tatum who plays every game, fresh off 3 straight First-Team All-NBAs and just won the title is considered asinine.
Good for you, Andrew.
We are in an era where the past effectively never dies and to even entertain a fresh new face could take over for an old one many take as a personal affront. The idea there is a future beyond the present, that a main player from our lives is somewhat replaceable is something this generation never had to face. There are no more movie stars, but brands. Brands last forever.
When you’re LeBron you’re not just a famous athlete like Dr. J or Magic or Bird. You’re a brand. No different from Microsoft, or Disney.The modern stars in basketball today will never come close to attaining this status and for that they’ll suffer. Generations of fans grew up idolizing Michael Jordan and thanks to the internet never have to let go. LeBron fans can continuously relive the glory days, have plenty of material to keep them sedated whenever the end does come, and will use him as a cudgel against players for at least fifty years.
One of the crowning moments of LeBron’s career was winning his first championship. Coming off the heels of The Decision and the 2011 season, in a gentler time the notion of a small market superstar leaving to join a bigger market to play with his best friends revolted us. Then he went to the Olympics, played on the greatest U.S basketball team and led them to the Gold as their best player. The summer of 2012 was the Summer of LeBron! Glowing headline after glowing headline. Segments not highlighting his failures, only lauding his accomplishments with promises of more to come.
Fast forward twelve years later and it’s become apparent fans and media aren’t geared to treat someone as a champion when they won one. Tatum’s career is one long story defined by overachieving when you consider the circumstances he was in. Rookie season, playing on a team missing two max salary players heading into the playoffs, out-dueled Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid. Then went toe-to-toe with LeBron in a seven-game set. Yet, all the buzz was around LeBron and for a brief moment it seemed Boston would win everyone collectively shrugged. It’s just not the NBA Finals if LeBron isn’t in it. Tatum was viewed as a casualty, not as an up and comer.
Then 2019 is a disaster, the deck is reshuffled and he’s recast from main player to bit role. 2020 in a year where the Celtics lost Kyrie Irving and Al Horford in free agency, Tatum cobbled together his first All-NBA season and brought a Celtics team with Gordon Hayward on one leg, Kemba Walker on no legs, and his centers are Daniel Theis and Enes Kanter to within two-games of crashing the finals.
Skip ahead two years later he goes on his best individual stretch from January to finish the 2022 campaign, out duels Kevin Durant, Giannis (again), gets revenge on Miami, but runs out of gas in the finals versus Golden State. The takeaway was “they’ll never make it back” and labeled as choke artist for not beating a dynasty when no one picked Boston over them.
After all the narratives, negative headlines and braindead tweets, the Celtics have finally obtained what can’t be taken away from them… and it feels like it’s being taken away from them? How? More importantly, why? Why aren’t can’t we celebrate a championship team with a fresh, young face anymore? We did it with Giannis in 2021 and have looked the other way as he hasn’t even reached round three since. Hater culture can forgive that, but not Tatum making five conference finals in seven seasons? Both won a title. You can say both relied on their co-star (which isn’t an insult), yet we memory hole how awesome Khris Middleton was in the 2021 playoffs, and found some way to both lionize Jaylen Brown’s 2024 while not giving him any credit either.
Tatum outplayed who is largely seen as the third best player in the world in Luka Doncic, then went to the Olympics and won his second gold medal and comes back to the States ridiculed? This can read like sour grapes, but I’m more befuddled than I am annoyed. “He’s only the SIXTH best player in the league!” is a real insult I’ve seen thrown around. What is used as insults and just accepted as valid criticisms is asinine to imagine as discourse ten-years ago.
It’s likely the Celtics won’t repeat as champions, as it’s difficult to have everything go right for you in a sport where if one thing goes wrong your season is effectively over. The 2024 Celtics are anomalous in that regard, as they loss Kristaps Porzingis on two occasions and still ended up winning the title. No team before them won a title without their third best player. Yet, that’s never mentioned as a feather in Tatum’s cap. The injuries other teams suffered only matter.
If by this time next year, the Celtics have secured Banner 19, it’ll be the most impressive repeat by a champion team ever. For now, the most dominant repeat championship team is arguably the 2001 Lakers. But that era of the NBA was weak. It’s just that team was too good to properly use the shallow talent pool as a way to nick them. But for teams to repeat when the talent pool was deep, the 1988 Lakers and 1992 Bulls sit on top. But the hypothetical 2025 Celtics wouldn’t be that far behind. And even if that happens, on top of Tatum making a fourth consecutive First Team All-NBA, wins the championship and the series MVP, the hating will continue because we are now married to our takes more than ever.
I bet the haters hate this.
Vinny Jace appears on the Entitled Weekend podcast. He does notlive in North Haverbrook.
Note: Patrick Scartelli has taken this week off from Cleaning Out the Sports Junk Drawer. In his place is an excerpt from good friend of The15net dot com, sportswriter Mr. Stanislas Tecumseh Darden, Jr., with an excerpt from his book, ‘406 Little-Known Beantown (& Foxborough) Sports Facts!’
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Boston Celtics GM Danny Ainge traded the first overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft to Philadelphia for their third overall pick, and selected Jayson Tatum!
John Bucyk scored 545 goals as a member of the Boston Bruins!
The city of Boston has never hosted an Olympic Games!
Boston Red Sox center fielder Dom DiMaggio’s brothers Vincent and Joseph also played baseball professionally!
Former Bruins player Gregory Campbell’s nickname was and is ‘Soupy!’
Celtics mascot Lucky doesn’t take cabs!
During a 1961 game between the then-Boston Patriots and the then-Dallas Texans, a fan in a trench coat went into the end zone to bat down a potential game-winning pass!
From 1947 until 1999, no advertisements could be found on Fenway Park’s Green Monster!
In 1970, Robert Gordon Orr won the Norris, Art Ross, Conn Smythe, and the Hart Trophy, becoming the only player to win all four awards during the same season!
Dick Flavin is an American poet known as the “poet laureate of the Boston Red Sox!”
Boston Garden was the first arena to host the Stanley Cup Final and NBA Finals at the same time in 1957!
Coachmen love The Head of the Charles Regatta!
On Mother’s Day of 2007, the Red Sox erased a 5-run deficit in the bottom of the 9th inning, winning 6-5!
After losing the Snow Bowl playoff game in Foxboro to the Patriots, the Oakland Raiders reached the Super Bowl the very next season, and lost that game as well, 21-48! Quit whining about the officiating, losers!
Fenway Park has not hosted an All-Star Game since 1999!
The Boston Bruins were founded in 1924!
When Ted Williams played the final game of his career at Fenway Park on September 28, 1960, there were only 10,454 people in the stands, much fewer than the total number of people who would later claim to have been there!
The Boston College Eagles were charter members of the original Big East Conference!
There is no longer a GameStop location in Patriot Place!
Late Celtics star Reggie Lewis played his college ball in Boston as well, for Northeastern University!
David ‘Big Papi’ Ortiz has an Identical Best Friend, named Sixto!
The USS Constitution “Old Ironsides,” like many Navy vessels fields a baseball team!
Nina Kuscsik was the first woman to officially win the Boston Marathon, which occurred in 1972!
The Bruins were the first NHL team to own aZamboni and also the first NHL team to get rid of Zamboni, TD Garden have used Olympia Ice Resurfacers since 2015!
During his pro wrestling career, Pete Doherty, The Duke of Dorchester defeated Fred Marzino 28 times with no wins scored by Marzino!
Schaefer Stadium was originally built in Mexico as a soccer venue for the 1970 World Cup, and was purchased at discount by the Sullivan family, disassembled, transported stateside, and rebuilt in Foxboro!
The original Boston Garden opened in 1928 as ‘Boston Madison Square Garden!’
The Patriots record during Upton Bell’s tenure as GM was 9-19!
Former Red Sox skipper Walpole Joe Morgan meets broadcaster Joe Morgan every few months for lunch to exchange misaddressed fan mail!
Surveying the landscape, the ramifications of the second apron now in full effect; the restrictions and penalties are onerous and assist only the greediest and cheapest owners. Until circumstances change it is safe to assume dynasties are impossible. The last five champions are in variations of turmoil.
• The Los Angeles Lakers are shackled to LeBron and his various whims, are deep in the red and have no real avenue to contend in a younger, more talented western conference. • Milwaukee could have won another title in the years 2019, 2020 and 2022 when the team around Giannis was younger and better. But Fred VanVleet had a baby, swung the east finals series for Toronto. Jimmy Butler emasculated Giannis in The Bubble. Khris Middleton got hurt and was never the same. Now they are capped out, fired a very good regular coach in Mike Budenholzer, are rudderless at the head coach position and only have 3 actual NBA players. • All Golden State needed to do was hit one just ONE of their lottery picks from 2020 and 2021 they wouldn’t be in this mess. James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody could have easily been LaMelo Ball (I am not faulting them for not trading down for Tyrese Haliburton, nobody else did it), Franz Wagner or Alperen Sengun. Then they probably are able to get Paul George or Lauri Markkanen this summer instead of staring at the abyss of wasting the rest of Steph Curry’s career. • Denver should have repeated this past year, but as fate would have it blowing a 20-point lead in a home Game 7 was the toll price paid for last season’s success. Famously cheap owner Stan Kroenke let lynchpins Reggie Jackson and Kentavious Cardwell-Pope depart leaves Denver more vulnerable with an underwhelming bench and I’d go as far to say they have fallen a tier in my rankings. • And then there’s the sweet, beautiful boys in green… Wyc Grousbeck announced his intentions to sell and we’ll wait for the details to come, but if he hands the keys off to someone like Tillman Fertitta then we have to worry about cost cutting measures because someone rich enough to buy a professional basketball team didn’t have deep enough pockets to pay for it’s roster.
The NBA has become the NFL. Strangling dynasties in their cradle, turning the window of contention into a revolving door. In reality the window for title contenders are usually two measly years. The Celtics fortunately held on to nearly everyone from the title team; we’re still waiting to hear about Oshae Brissett and if there are any ring chasers looking for a spot.
Wrong aprons.
The draconian rules of the second apron have set the NBA on the course for potentially becoming Major League Baseball, undermining the bargaining power of the players by instituting harsh penalties for spending too much. If a player feels he isn’t being respected at the negotiating table because the team doesn’t want to enter the second apron, then what if the other teams he goes to share that same fear? This is what we’ll see unfold in the near future.
In this new era it is arguably preferable for a team like the Clippers to let Paul George walk for nothing, because now nothing is something. Nothing is a mid-level exception you can use to sign a free agent. Nothing is some much needed financial wiggle room that takes you out of the deep red and into a light shade of orange. Los Angeles could have traded George to Golden State for a solid, young player like Jonathan Kuminga and veteran backup point guard Chris Paul and chose not to. If this was 10-years ago the Clippers would admit defeat and look to reposition their aging roster in an advantageous position to sell for parts, garnering assets along the way.
Right now the Celtics are paying over $547 million for their championship roster. Having made Jayson Tatum the richest player in league history; surpassing his teammate Jaylen Brown who achieved this honor last summer. Speaking of which, his supermax officially kicks in this upcoming season, Tatum’s will in 2025-26. They’re over $66 million over the cap, $15 million above the first apron and are $5 million above the second.
The penalties for crossing the second apron are both Byzantine and draconian:
No signing exceptions Team becomes hard-capped at Second Apron by or can’t use/do: • Using Tax MLE • Aggregating two or more player salaries in a trade • Sending out cash in trade • Acquiring a player using a TPÈ that was created via a previous sign-and-trade • Can only: • Re-sign own free agents • Sign draft picks • Sign players to minimum contracts • Make trades where one player salary is sent out and equal or less salary comes back (can do a 1-for-2 or more trade
One doesn’t have to look to far to surmise the possible reason Wyc Grousbeck is selling his shares because when the bill comes due he wants no part of the aftermath and it’s not like pulling the plug now is an option. The Celtics are well worth their hefty salary and are poised to repeat in the minds of oddsmakers in Las Vegas. To preserve the runway now is to obliterate a proven near term future. Wyc will not do what Clay Bennett did to Oklahoma in 2012 and trade a star player just to duck the luxury tax.
However, when the Celtics do find themselves too far in the red it is safe to assume the ramifications will be ugly. This means potentially breaking up the Jays, either in a gut-wrenching trade where the Celtics pursue assets and cap relief rather than a “win-now” player, or a divorce similar to what Klay Thompson and the Warriors just went through. One side chasing another monumental pay day, and a withering dynasty consumed with apathy for one of its signature players.
But that’s all future Celtics problems. The hope I have is Wyc cares enough about the Celtics to not sell his shares in the immediate term and instead do it when the bill is coming due. It would be more profitable to sell now, give the team over to some cheap billionaire who’ll cry poor and in a year breaks the team down to spare parts. But maybe Wyc hangs on and lets Brad Stevens write the checks even if it decreases the value of the sale?
The pressure is on the Celtics, like it was this past season, to get the job done (again) and try to accomplish what would be the most impressive back-to-back championship in league history. There are plenty of reasons to assume it won’t happen, and a lot of them happen to be out of the Celtics control. This was the second straight playoffs where the championship team didn’t play a fifty-win team en route to the finals. Everything for the Celtics broke their way, and just like the 2015 Golden State Warriors made the most of their opportunities, you can expect the following playoffs to be more strenuous.
Of the last 9 teams to go back-to-back only one of them repeated with the same ease like they won in the first go-around.
1986-87 Lakers: 15-3
1987-88 Lakers: 15-9 (3 Game 7s!)
1988-89 Pistons: 15-2
1989-90 Pistons: 15-5
1990-91 Bulls: 15-2
1991-92 Bulls: 15-7
1993-1994 Rockets: 15-8
1994-1995 Rockets: 15-7
1995-96 Bulls: 15-3
1996-97 Bulls: 15-4
1999-00 Lakers: 15-8
2000-01 Lakers: 15-1
2008-09 Lakers: 16-7
2009-2010 Lakers: 16-7
2011-12 Heat: 16-7
2012-13 Heat: 16-7
2016-17 Warriors: 16-1
2017-18 Warriors: 16-5
⁃ 4 repeat champions where the difficulty on the back-half was comparable to the first part. ⁃ 1 repeat champion had an easier road to than the first time. ⁃ 4 repeat champions where the journey was harder on the back half.
We haven’t seen a repeat champion since Golden State. Every champion since fell into a decline two-years removed from their moment of triumph. Toronto nearly made the East Finals in 2020, then twiddled their thumbs as players like Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam depreciated in value; Lowry and VanVleet leaving in free agency for nothing. The complacency bug bit their general manager Masai Ujiri.
LeBron’s Lakers won off the backs of two-way role players, and evidently he found that too boring and ordered the front office to go dumpster diving for the highest scoring free agent they could find. Trading Danny Green for Dennis Schroder when they already had Kentavious Cardwell-Pope as the creator on the second unit. Low-balling Alex Caruso. Trading KCP and Kyle Kuzma for Russell Westbrook. Then trading Westbrook for D’Angelo Russell, only to inexplicably hold on to him at the deadline when they could have netted an asset. The charade reached new highs when LeBron magnanimously offered to take a pay cut if Rob Pelinka could coax a star to join him in Los Angeles. Of course, they wasn’t possible given the short span of time. Los Angeles’ decline was self imposed.
But what of the newer generation of players who now made their way to the championship? Why hasn’t Giannis or Jokic returned to the winners circle? The answer could be winning the title doesn’t possess the same advantages it once did. You don’t get the LeBron 2013 season where he is freed from the shackles of scrutiny and the league officially becomes his. Instead, you’re expected to do it again with a bigger target painted on your back. The media becomes more vicious and wears them down. The Nuggets enjoyed a quiet rise to the top in 2023, later burdened by expectations and being treated as inevitable possesses an underrated threat to defending champions it did not before. Inevitability used to galvanize the favored team and demoralize the challenger, now the roles are reversed.
It is very possible we’ll see more additions to the “One and Done Club” due to the circumstances of the modern NBA.
The superstars in the One and Done Club list is:
• Dirk Nowitzki • Julius Erving • Moses Malone • Rick Barry • Elvin Hayes • Wes Unseld • Jerry West • Nikola Jokic • Giannis Antetkoumpo • Jayson Tatum
Besides Dirk, before the beginning of the 2020s it was rare to win just one championship between the years 1988 and 2002. It used to be when you win the title once you’re going to do it again. Most of the One and Done champions came from the turbulent 1970s when team building was volatile due to strenuous contract negotiations, rampant egos and unpredictability. Only the Knicks and Celtics were allowed to peacefully decline. The Warriors fell because Rick Barry‘s petulance. The Blazers fell because of Walton’s poor feet and poor treatment of Maurice Lucas. The SuperSonics fell off because Dennis Johnson alienated the team during his contractual standoff. It would happen so suddenly too. The Warriors should have repeated in ‘76. The Blazers in ‘78.
Now the team that “should have” repeated loses in a more graceful, dignified manner. The short-handed Bucks fought the Celtics valiantly in ‘22. The Nuggets simply ran into a bad matchup in round two this year. Had nothing to do with egos or fisticuffs. Merely the grind becoming too much and the bottom giving out.
But this team “feels” different. The circumstances feel more favorable to Boston than in the past. The last eastern conference team to win the title was Milwaukee, the only reason they lost was because Middleton was injured. Many people picked them to repeat because the conference was viewed as easy pickings compared to the stronger west. Had they remained healthy they at least make it back to the finals and then it’s up to you whether they’d beat Golden State.
Fast forward to today, the east is still viewed as the “Leastern Conference”, the contenders don’t particularly stand out. Philadelphia signing Paul George will help ease the burden on Joel Embiid. But the issue for Philly is Embiid is never healthy when he is needed the most. They lost Nic Batum and Buddy Heild, and don’t possess a quality starting center or a deep bench. If your fourth best player isn’t at the level of Derrick White you’re going nowhere.
New York reunited the Villanova Wildcats by paying a premium for Mikal Bridges to complete their set. Their core of Jalen Brunson (28), Josh Hart (turning 30 next March), Donte Divencenzo (27), and the aforementioned Bridges (28) are poised to give the Knicks at least two more cracks at the title before the dearth of assets and financial flexibility hammer them. But it’s the hefty price of 5-first round picks they paid for Bridges that bothers me. They should have played hard ball with Brooklyn; there’s no way the Knicks didn’t know Bridges already wanted to go to them. Plus, they’re going to need those picks for potential future deals. Losing Isaiah Hartenstein to Oklahoma City leaves only the talented, but often injured Mitchell Robinson as their quality starting level center. Which isn’t ideal. I would have waited for Donovan Mitchell to become available because easing the scoring load for Brunson was more of a pressing concern to me than trading for Bridges when I am already paying a lot of money for O.G Anonuby.
The Knicks have time to fix their problems, though they don’t have many tools left in their arsenal. Tom Thibodeau is a great head coach, but tends to grind his players knees into dust which is how you get the pitiful Game 7 exit they ended last season with. They may have won the off-season, but can they win the post season?
So who are the real challengers for the champion Celtics? Milwaukee deserves a mention for having Giannis on their team. Beyond that they don’t have much to intimidate them with. If Brook Lopez is traded that leaves a hole at the center position, and it is quite frankly a bad idea to cast blame for the team falling from 4th in defensive rating in ‘22-23 to 19th in ‘23-24 on him and not Middleton’s continued decline and Damian Lillard being a turnstile. The front office is blaming the wrong player for their woes.
The real contenders are Miami, because they’ve beaten Boston before and more recently than Milwaukee. Much is ballyhooed about the rift between Jimmy Butler and Pat Riley, but they were never going to trade Butler. He is on an expiring contract, coming off an injury riddled campaign and Miami wouldn’t get much for him if they bit the bullet anyway. Unless Miami experiences another three-point shooting variance in the playoffs (can’t count out lightning striking twice) then this is the last stand for Heat Culture. Regardless, there is a chance the young guns Jaimie Jacquez and Nikola Jovic contribute and provide the aging Heat roster with a needed shot in the arm. Anything is possible with Erik Spolstra.
And lastly, the Indiana Pacers. Yeah, the team Boston swept. The only team that didn’t win a game versus the Celtics in the playoffs. Yeah, those guys I am saying could be the ones to do the job if the cookie crumbles in a certain manner. Indiana’s offensive rating in the East Finals was an astonishing 116. They play fast, efficient and are very smart. Rick Carlisle coached up Andrew Nembhard and everyone not named Myles Turner played really well offensively in that series. Defensively is a different story. But if they get a healthy Tyrese Haliburton in the playoffs and Bennedict Mathurin it’ll better compliment an already deep Pacers squad.
My only advice for the Celtics is try your damndest to avoid an unfavorable matchup in the second round. The second round is where the playoffs are the most volatile. It’s also where four of the last five defending champions fell.
Vinny Jace appears on the Entitled Weekend podcast. He does not come from the future.
The 15 