May 11, 2023 4 min read

Glass Half Full

I firmly believe these stairs and escalators will once again be full of fans on Sunday. (Credit: TD Garden)

Last season, the Celtics got off to a middling start. When the talking heads started in about the team needed to break up Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, I started a new mantra – "I still believe." I would tweet it or text it to friends before and after games. Often both. And when the energy started to shift, I kept at it. This season has been different. We have been spoiled as fans. The Celtics started 21-5 without Rob Williams III, and that 21st win was an emphatic 125-98 shellacking of the Suns in Phoenix. On that night, it seemed the team was destined for a championship.

Things have not been as rosy since. In a reverse of last season, the team closed with a 36-20 record after that 21-5 start. Not bad, but not the same level we came to feel was expected after an NBA Finals run and a hot start. Negativity has dominated, and after the Celtics dropped these past two games, it seems everyone is ready to crucify them. I have often counted myself in those numbers. Tatum needs to start faster. Brown needs to learn how to dribble. Al Horford needs to remember how to shoot. Marcus Smart has to make the right plays. Derrick White needs to play like the guy we saw in the regular season and not the guy we saw last season. Coach Joe Mazzulla needs to learn... well, a lot. There are so many things about which to whine and nitpick. And yet, that's not how the energy will shift.

So, if tonight is to be the end of this season, let's first celebrate the amazing things that have happened throughout.

Marcus Smart is now the standard bearer for the NBA's Hustle Award. The award has only existed for seven seasons. Smart has now won it in three of the seven seasons. He's the only player to win it multiple times, and he's also now the only player to win it in consecutive seasons. Smart is a fan favorite because he will sacrifice himself every time in order to try and gain an edge. Watching Marcus Smart play basketball has been one of the greatest joys of my sports fan life. I love Marcus Smart.
Derrick White made second team All-Defensive Team. What an upset! When Brad Stevens traded for White, the near-universal reaction was that the C's overpaid. A year later, White was one of the best guards in the league at taking charges and blocking shots, and that's not even the half of it. He was everywhere. He has guarded bigger players and smaller players. If you want to get by White and get into the paint untouched, you have your work cut out for you. And even if you do, he might slip in behind you and pick you clean. I love Derrick White.
Malcolm Brogdon won Sixth Man of the Year. When the C's acquired Brogdon, it seemed too good to be true. It seemed like something I would cook up on ESPN's Trade Machine. Getting a quality starter for a bunch of role players? (Shout to Aaron Nesmith though, he improved this season.) Getting a quality starter and being able to slot him as sixth man? No way, right? Brogdon was annointed as a preseason favorite for the Sixth Man of the Year, and actually won it. How often does that happen? How often do lofty expectations get met? How often do quality veteran players fit so seamlessly into the mix of an established team? We saw last year with Dennis Schröder that that is easier said than done. Brogdon has been everything fans have hoped he would be. I love Malcolm Brogdon.
Jaylen Brown made all-NBA second team. In 2020-21, when Brown averaged 24.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 3.4 assists and made his first All-Star team, it seemed like a victory lap. Five years into his career, he had concretely paid off the promise that Danny Ainge saw in him when he drafted him instead of the guy all us idiot fans wanted in Kris Dunn. But he'd never be better than that, right? Wrong. 26.6/6.9/3.5 this season. Brown became a mid-range assassin. No one can stop him when he gets close to the rim. Through sheer force of will, Brown keeps getting better, and now with this all-NBA nod, the Celtics can sign him to a "super-max" contract. I love Jaylen Brown.
Jayson Tatum made first team all-NBA team. Again. Here is a simple sentence that people need to reckon with now and forever – Jayson Tatum is one of the greatest players in Boston Celtics history. There are now seven players in team history who have made all-NBA first team twice – Bob Cousy (10 times), Larry Bird (9), John Havlicek (4), Bill Sharman (4), Ed Macauley (3), and Bill Russell (3). Kevin Garnett, Kevin McHale, and Ed Sadowski each did it one time in a Celtics uniform. That's right, Tatum now has more first-team nods than the great Kevin McHale. He's just the fifth of those aforementioned seven to do it in consecutive seasons. As unfathomable as it is, neither Havlicek nor Russell earned the first-team nod in consecutive seasons. Tatum is levitating. The C's have him for at least the next three seasons, and I believe with this new all-NBA nod he is eligible for another "super-max" extension. Watching Tatum night in and night out is the ultimate reward for a dedicated fan. He wants to play every night, and at age 25 he is still getting better. I firmly believe he will win a championship in Boston Celtics green. I love Jayson Tatum.

I could do this for every player. Al Horford has stayed relevant. Rob Williams III was able to come back from another injury. Sam Hauser turned himself into a legitimate NBA player. Blake Griffin has been a great influence. Payton Pritchard and Grant Williams and Luke Kornet have stayed ready. JD Davison can jump out of the gym.

The Celtics are fully capable of winning tonight, and then winning again in a decisive Game 7 on Sunday. If they do, they are still the favorites. I firmly believe that. Even after the past two games, I am expecting that. But with the season on the brink, I want to take a step back and look at what a fun, rewarding season this has been for the Boston Celtics. I am not ready for the season to end precisely because it has been so much fun.

Let's go Celtics!