The 78-year history of the Boston Celtics Cliff Notes The Celtics of the Year edition is several pages long. They have 17 championships, 23 NBA Finals appearances and almost as many division titles (34) as the Minnesota Timberwolves have ever won (35). The banner hanging at TD Garden has so many retired numbers sewn onto it that only one name (“Rosie”) is inscribed on it. Rosie is named after Jim Rocutoff, the defensive anchor of seven championship teams who requested that his number be kept in circulation so others could wear it. For a franchise so immersed in success, it's hard to stand out. The 2023-24 Celtics found a way to do just that after beating the Dallas Mavericks in five games to claim their 18th NBA championship.
By the numbers, it was a great run. They won 64 games in the regular season, went 16-3 in the playoffs, and went 8-1 in the final two rounds. Their combined record of 80-21 produced the second-best winning percentage in franchise history and the best postseason record of any Celtics championship team. Boston not only beat opponents this season, they dominated them by the fourth-best point differential in NBA history.
“You can't have a philosophy or a way of playing unless you have a group of players that are willing to embrace that philosophy and that way of playing and are willing to be disciplined,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Honestly, these guys have been through a lot in the league, so they know what it takes.”
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Sure, all championships are equal, but they're won in different ways. Some are bought with money, and in some ways Boston's last championship in 2007-08 was one of them. That flag was raised a few months after the Celtics acquired Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to team with Paul Pierce at the peak of his powers. The title was hard-earned, earned over a seven-year, arduous journey that had good things (five conference finals appearances) and bad things (a loss in the '22 Finals) and the scars to prove it. “We did it,” was all Jayson Tatum could say, sporting the same look of disbelief as his teammates gathered around him as green-and-white confetti rained down all around him. “There's been a lot of bumps in the road these last few years,” Al Horford said. “But this team has been persistent and has been stubborn.”
As Mazzulla made a switch in the starting lineup late in Game 5, Tatum and Jaylen Brown met at the end of the Celtics bench, shook hands, hugged and breathed a long sigh of relief. Few teammates have had as much success as Brown, who was a rookie when the Celtics reached their first conference finals in 2017, and Tatum, who joined a year later. Even fewer have faced the same level of scrutiny. As recently as May, after the Celtics' landslide victory in the Finals, pundits questioned the health of the Tatum-Brown relationship, pointing to the video of Tatum praising Brown for his conference Finals MVP award as Zapruder-like evidence. It was goofy, as always. When Brown won the Finals MVP as a reward for his timely offense and dogged defense against Luka Doncic, Brown turned to Tatum and said, “We share this shit together.”
“We've been through a lot,” Brown said. “Losses, expectations. The media has been saying different things.” If we can't play together, we'll never win. We heard it all, but we ignored it and just kept going. I trusted him, he trusted me, and we worked through it together.”
Boston's stars have been inspired by failure. For Tatum, that was the 2022 Finals. A poor series against the Golden State Warriors and the sounds and images of the Warriors celebrating on their Boston home court were seared into Tatum's memory and made him want to get better. His body, his passing, his post play. “Falling short and failing makes this moment even better,” Tatum said. “Because I know what it feels like to lose.”
For Tatum, the championship is a validation of a man who has a track record as one of the NBA's best players yet is often portrayed as a step below them. Tatum struggled with his shooting in the Finals, shooting 38.8 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from three-point range. But he found ways to make an impact in the wins. He grabbed 11 rebounds in Game 1. He dished out 12 assists in Game 2. In Game 5, Tatum was two rebounds shy of a triple-double. Tatum is one of only six champions to lead their teams in points, rebounds and assists in the playoffs.
“I get to elevate myself in a room with all my favorite players,” Tatum said. “All the players that are considered greats and legends have won championships. All the players that I look up to have won championships. They've won championships multiple times. So now I get to walk in that room and be a part of it. It feels awesome. [than] “I dreamed about what it would be like. It's 10 times better than this.”
For Brown, the pain was more recent. Last spring, after the Celtics rallied from a 3-0 deficit to reach the conference finals, Tatum went down with an injury early in Game 7. Brown sensed an opportunity. His relationship with Boston was complicated. In 2016, Brown was booed on draft night when he was selected, in favor of trading for Jimmy Butler or drafting a more celebrated playmaker, Kris Dunn. And for years, his name has been digitally stuffed into the trade machine more times than an All-Star vote.
Given a chance to shine, Brown finished with 8 of 23 field goals and 1 of 9 three-pointers in a lopsided loss. “I felt like the team was counting on me,” Brown said. “I dropped the ball. I was embarrassed. It was something that was bothering me all summer.” In the Finals, Brown's stout defense on Doncic helped Boston hold Dallas to under 100 points in each of its four losses. “The story and the journey is amazing,” Brown said.
Everyone played a role. When Horford met with Boston in free agency in 2016, Danny Ainge's pitch was simple. “He said, 'You can win a lot of places, but nothing beats winning in Boston,'” Horford recalled. “Nothing beats winning with the Celtics.” Horford spent three years in Boston before moving to the Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder before being traded to the Celtics in '21. He responded by playing 60 or more games in three straight years. In the Finals, in his 17th season and just days shy of his 38th birthday, Horford shot 47.1 percent from 3-point range. “It's been a long time,” Horford said. “I'm very grateful.”
On the parquet floor, Brad Stevens, hat backwards and looking more like a baby-faced Coach Butler than the reigning Executive of the Year, celebrated with him. Stevens, a career coach, was an odd choice to replace Ainge in 2021. But as a coach, he had a sense of the roster. As an executive, he quickly showed the boldness to revamp the team, trading Kemba Walker for Horford, shifting draft capital for Derrick White, trading Marcus Smart for Kristaps Porzingis and acquiring July Holiday in a bid that outbid several contenders. Holiday, wearing goggles, barged into Stevens' interview, put his arm around Stevens' shoulder and thanked him for bringing him along.
“I hope that people who watch us play feel the joy that we have playing,” Holiday said. “We love playing together and we did it together.”
Stevens also hired Mazzulla in his boldest move. Two years ago, at just 33 years old, Mazzulla went from assistant on the bench to leading a championship-contender team and was thrown into the deep end of the basketball pool just days before training camp. What he did well that season (57 wins, a trip to the conference finals) was overshadowed by what he didn't do: shaky rotations, inconsistent timeouts, a perceived pugnacious public figure. All suggested that maybe Mazzulla just wasn't ready for that moment.
But he was. He tweaked the defense and built an offense around the philosophy that you can never have too many 3-pointers. He integrated Porzingis and Holiday, managed Horford and developed Sam Hauser into a valuable rotation player.
His character? That's just Mazzulla. He's cool, quirky, even awkward, and Salinger's characters come to life. He showed a UFC fight in a film session, and once tried to stop an opponent from taking a free shot before going into a timeout. After Mazzulla was named the NBA's Coach of the Month in April, White congratulated him. “He just looked at me and said, 'Nobody cares,'” White recalled. During the Finals, Mazzulla was asked about the significance of a series featuring two black coaches. Mazzulla wondered how many coaches had been Christians before. On the eve of Game 5, in response to a question about joining the ranks of Celtics' winning coaches along with Red Auerbach, Mazzulla said, “If you don't run back on defense, get rebounds, execute, and own your space, it's never going to happen.”
“He's crazy,” Holiday said. “Anyone who knows Joe knows he's crazy, that's all. But I think it might be controlled insanity. It's definitely a way that he gets us prepared and I feel like I want to be prepared as well.”
But it worked. all It worked. And it could work again. The NBA has done away with dynasties in collective bargaining in recent years, and Boston is just the sixth team to win a title in as many seasons. But the Celtics have staying power. Tatum, Brown and Porzingis are under 30 and the entire rotation is under contract for next season. Stevens has plenty of draft picks. Once the celebrations and duck-boat-led parades are over, the anticipation will return.
“This is Boston,” Mazzulla said, “and we wouldn't want it any other way.”
