BOSTON — The Celtics' playoff slogan, “It's not like this place,” reeks of arrogance and Northeastern elitism until you walk into TD Garden and look up.
All the championship banners and retired uniform numbers signal that high expectations are placed on each new player, from the 19-year-old rookie to the veterans.
While some franchises hoist division pennants, most hoist conference pennants. The Los Angeles Lakers, who are tied with the Celtics for the most NBA titles with 17, hoisted the in-season tournament pennant this year.
Try that with Red Auerbach's Celtics, and there would have been a puff of cigar smoke blowing from the top of the Garden to stop that from happening, a franchise famous for only hoisting championships.
While the New York Knicks are back on the national stage with Madison Square Garden as a backdrop and the Lakers are perennially featured on the “A” block of sports programming, within their respective cities, the Celtics can't escape what they mean to Boston.
Kyrie Irving, in the most loving and respectful way, has called it a cult — not in a Jim Jones kind of way, but because the pressure and expectations are real and totally bought in.
“You have to show respect here,” Irving said ahead of Monday's Game 5 of the NBA Finals. “I think that was the struggle at first, figuring out how to be great while winning here and leading a team and being selflessly part of the Celtics organization, or the cult that is here.”
“As a player, they expect you to do that. They expect you to seamlessly embrace the Celtics pride and believe in everything the Celtics are. If you don't, you're going to be kicked out.”
And the Mavericks guard laughed in his seat among Celtics fans today.
“I'm one of those people who's been left out.”
To his credit, Irving didn't bother to integrate into the Boston Celtics culture when he joined them in 2017. He publicly acknowledged the mistakes he made during his two years in Boston and, of course, was heavily criticized for disrespecting the franchise.
But as tough as it was for Irving, even if he was simply being rebellious, it's hard to contextualize what it meant for a player like Jayson Tatum to be selected by the Celtics in 2017. The “he's only 19” joke had been going on for about five years, but when the Celtics culture called him, he was really 19 and one year out of high school.
Jaylen Brown had already been in Boston for a year, and the Celtics were just beginning to establish themselves as a contender in the conference.
They've endured tough times over the years, but rather than avoiding them, they seem to have grown accustomed to them.
While it's important to know who Larry Bird is in the overall NBA vocabulary, or that Bill Russell is a historic figure in American sports, it's hard to expect someone to have an encyclopedic knowledge of a franchise just because that franchise is highly regarded.
Most of their 17 championships have come in other NBA seasons, and while their more recent championships have been talked about as if they were dynasties, the 2008 team has only won one championship, and that was 16 years ago.
“I had no idea who Cedric Maxwell was. I thought he was a radio guy. [laughter]”I didn't know he played for the team and won Finals MVP,” Tatum said Sunday.
Maxwell probably won't even be in the Celtics' all-time starting five or second five, but he's beloved for helping the Celtics win two of their three championships in the '80s and, as Tatum pointed out, for winning Finals MVP the year Bird was with the team and finishing in the top two MVP categories.
Well, it's very different here.
“I would definitely take the time to get to know the people in the area, talk to the people that have been champions before me and really approach them, rather than hoping that they would give me advice,” Irving said, “because they've been through the same thing. They have a championship pedigree here. They've proven that for years. They're one of the winningest franchises in sports.”
Irving and Celtics guard Jrue Holiday were both traded to the Celtics to fill those voids, and both can talk about how special it is to play under those lights. Of course, Irving has his share of scrutiny playing with LeBron James in Cleveland, but none in that city like playing for the Celtics.
“I don't think anybody knows that until they play here, and it's not just somebody like me,” Holiday told Yahoo Sports on Sunday. “I don't think anybody knows the pressure you feel when you sign with a team like the Celtics.”
You're not just competing against the team across the street or the other teams in your conference to get to the finals, you're competing against ghosts.
“I mean, you've heard about this team and obviously you know the tradition of this team and how great this franchise is, but I don't think you really know the true extent of it until you actually play for them,” Holiday said.
Leading the way 3-1, Holiday has solidified himself as the second missing piece for a championship team in four years after helping the Milwaukee Bucks win the 2021 title.
“From day one, it's been about business here,” Holiday told Yahoo Sports. “I'm not saying it wasn't the same in Milwaukee, but it's a different situation. They came very close to winning their 18th championship for years, but it's their 18th since I've been here.”
After a bit of a glitch in Game 4, the Celtics are so close to winning another championship. They're right in front of them. And Boston is on their tails.
