Speaking on his own podcast, former NBA point guard Gilbert Arenas took a nasty shot at the Boston Celtics and their former All-Star, Paul Pierce. In response to Pierce predicting the Celtics to win their 18th championship, Arneas called the franchise irrelevant and tagged the 2008 championship Celtics team as forgettable.
“95% of the championships were won before Paul Pierce was even born,” said Arenas of the Celtics. “I don’t even know if anybody’s alive to remember when they won championships back in those days. In the last 30 years, Boston has been irrelevant in basketball history. Your history was built at the beginning of time because you guys had all the great players and you were dominant. In the last 30 years of basketball, where has Boston been? You got one chip in the last 30 years. You walking around like this sh*t is on your chest… nobody remembers you.”
Gilbert Arenas says the Celtics have been irrelevant for the last 30 years and most of their championships came in an eight-team league
"Nobody remembers you"
(Via @GilsArenaShow / h/t @WheelerJaylen )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) March 21, 2024
There is some truth to Gilbert’s statement. While the Celtics are tied for the most championships in NBA history, most of them came before 1986 and the vast majority were won from 1959-1969. Paul Pierce’s squad was the last Celtics team to win the championship and that was nearly 16 years ago.
To Boston’s credit, there are many teams who have failed to win a title over the past three decades but not many of them have had as much success as the Cs. While they have yet to go all the way, Boston has gone deep into the playoffs many times before and has multiple Finals trips to show for it.
Now, in the Tatum and Brown era, most would agree that this is their best chance to win a title since 2008 and the lead they’ve built on the top seed in the East is proof enough that they are a team to be feared. But after multiple failed playoff runs, there are still lingering doubts that they can get it done.
Will The Celtics Get It Done In 2024?
The Boson Celtics have won a lot of regular season games before and they’ve been among the favorites to win for years now. With Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, and Derrick White, Boston has, arguably, the best five-man rotation in the league.
But after last year’s collapse in the Eastern Conference Finals, when they lost to the Miami Heat, the doubts are louder than ever that they have what it takes to close the deal and win the championship.
At 55-14 in this campaign, the Celtics seem poised to finally beat the allegations and prove themselves as a legitimate championship team. They have a whopping 10.5-game lead on the first seed and have the best record in all of basketball by a 6.5-game margin.
But, as always, the Celtics will only go as far as Jayson Tatum takes them. And unless he learns how to show up consistently and close the deal for the Celtics in must-win scenarios, he may never mean the respect as some of his peers.
This season, the Celtics are all out of excuses and anything less than championship with all the pieces they have will be deemed an utter failure. For their sake, this has to be the year it all comes together, or it could result in major humiliation.
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