Following up an NBA championship season can be really difficult. But according to Jayson Tatum, the Celtics are still hungry for more. Speaking in an interview with Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, Tatum noted that he and the Celtics don’t look at next season as a title defense, but as them chasing a championship.
“[Coach] Joe Mazzulla, he had a great quote the other day. He said, we’re not defending anything. We’re chasing another championship. We enjoyed it all summer. We enjoyed it during training camp. I can’t wait for opening night to get our rings and see the banner being raised.”
“But honestly, after opening night, we have to put it behind us. It’s a new season. Last year was last year, we accomplished something special. We’ve got to figure out a way to get better. We wanted to approach the game with the same mindset, and we did an amazing job of that last year.”
Tatum and the Celtics accomplished what has been their goal for almost 7 years now. Since Tatum entered the NBA in 2017, the Celtics have been one of the powerhouses of the Eastern Conference, making five of the seven conference finals since the 2017-18 NBA season.
After building an incredible team around star plays Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, former Celtics coach-turned GM Brad Stevens can be proud of the franchise and roster he helped put together in both of his roles. But winning the championship is just one aspect of the job.
The Celtics are aiming to be the first NBA team to go back-to-back as champions since the Golden State Warriors. While the Celtics still have an amazing roster, they face a stiff challenge both in the East with the likes of the Knicks, 76ers, and Bucks, and in the West with teams like the Mavericks, Nuggets, and Timberwolves.
Can The Celtics Go Back-To-Back?
We are presently in one of the most competitive eras of the NBA. While a lot has been said about the aggression and the player mindset of the 80s and 90s, we are currently undergoing the longest streak of no repeat champions in quite some time. In today’s NBA, it is very difficult for any team to go back-to-back as champions.
That is the challenge the Celtics face. Many fancied the Denver Nuggets to win it all last season, coming off their historic 2023 NBA championship win but they got eliminated in the second round. The same goes for the Warriors in the 2022-23 season, and the Bucks in the season prior to that.
In fact, the last championship-winning team to return to the Conference Finals was the Warriors, who of course were also the last team to go back-to-back as champions.
Tatum and the Celtics will have to use their stellar and stacked roster to its absolute fullest if they want any legitimate chance of winning the NBA championship once again. But they will not have it easy by any means, with them now becoming the hunted instead of the hunters.
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