Jun 18, 2024 5 min read

Thank You

Hopefully, Bill Russell is smiling and laughing up in heaven tonight, because the Larry O'Brien trophy is finally back where it belongs. (Image credit: "Welcome to NBA Lane" video)

The journey of this team was so, so, so long. So I want to say some thank you's to recognize it.

Thank you to Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett (and even Jason Terry and DJ White) for bringing back the haul that brought the Celtics both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. At the time, it seemed like it could some day work out really great, and that ended up being an understatement. Even though the Garden faithful booed the night Jaylen was drafted, this trade went down as one of the greatest trades in NBA history.

Thank you to Javonte Green and Daniel Theis. When they were traded in the deal that brought back Luke Kornet and Mo Wagner, it seemed like it was a little more about sneaking under the salary cap or luxury tax (I can't remember which) than it was about the players involved. But even in that deal, Danny Ainge got two good players. It almost didn't work out with Kornet though, as the C's waived him a few months later, and he signed 10-day contracts with both Cleveland and Milwaukee before catching back on with the Celtics.

Thank you to both Terry Rozier and Kemba Walker. Rozier brought us Kemba Walker, and Walker brought us back Al Horford. When Big Al left the first time, I was crestfallen, but understanding of the fact that Philadelphia made him an offer he couldn't refuse. But when Brad Stevens pulled the trigger to get Al back with his first move (and also clear us from the cap-killing Kemba contract), it was clear that a wrong had been made right.

Thank you to Romeo Langford and Josh Richardson. Langford never panned out as an NBA player. He didn't play at all in the league this season. But he had just enough promise to make the Derrick White trade palatable to San Antonio. On the day of the trade, some lamented the pick swap the C's sacrificed in 2028, because some people are never happy, but this was one of the great trade swindles of the past five years.

Thank you especially to Marcus Smart. I was sick to my stomach when Marcus was traded. I love Marcus Smart. I trust Marcus Smart. I want only success for Marcus Smart. Having said that, it was clear from the very first plays of the very first preseason game that the Celtics had made the correct decision, and that only became more clear as the season progressed and Marcus struggled with injuries. Kristaps Porzingis was hurt plenty too, but his fit here has been incredible, and we don't get him without Marcus.

Thank you to Aaron Nesmith, and Daniel Theis again (and also Malik Fitts, Juwan Morgan, and Nik Stauskas), because they brought us Malcolm Brogdon. The Malcolm Brogdon Era was short and ended bitterly, as he watched Jayson Tatum gutting out Game 7 vs. Miami last year on a bad ankle, and refused to go back into the game and play through his own injury. A lot of people wanted Jaylen Brown traded after that Game 7. I wanted Brogdon gone, and as the offseason progressed, it was clear the team agreed. But he still had an important role to play for the/ Celtics.

Thank you to both Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams III, who brought us Jrue Holiday. After the Milwaukee Bucks made one of the worst trades in NBA history both in process (capitulating to their whiny star who didn't know what was best for him, and then trading for a player who was a. getting divorced, and b. hadn't worked out all summer) and outcome (failing to secure a three-team trade so that their heart and soul wouldn't get swung to a title contender), Brad Stevens was ready and waiting to swoop in with the only deal that the Celtics could make money-wise. It hurt trading Rob, I love Rob, and was so sad he got hurt again. But if he had done so on the C's, it would have killed the season before it started.

Thank you to Lamar Stevens. It didn't work out here for him, but he was the player moved for Xavier Tillman Sr., who was able to help the C's win Game 3. And Stevens got some good run for the injury-ravaged Memphis squad, which hopefully helps him get another season in the NBA, so it did work out for him too.

Thank you to Danny Ainge, whose fingerprints are indelible here thanks not only to the Jaylen and Jayson draft picks, but also for refusing to trade them, even when he maybe wanted to. He also drafted Payton Pritchard, who has always been a good fit on this team when he's been given the room to play and make mistakes.

Thank you especially to Brad Stevens. He put this team together with the above trades, many of them legendary. But he also did it by signing undrafted free agents (Sam Hauser), signing players to two-way contracts (Neemias Queta, Drew Peterson), signing free agents (Oshae Brissett, Svi Mykhailiuk), working the trade market in season (Tillman Sr. and Jaden Springer), and finally the draft (JD Davison, Jordan Walsh). He put together a deep, connected team, and unlike his first couple of tries as an executive, every player who played minutes for this team this year seemed capable of playing well. There were no Noah Vonleh or Justin Jackson minutes this year that we had to cringe through, and it all mattered. Buttoning up those final roster spots with quality players was part of why this team was historically good. Brad Stevens played this league like a fiddle this season, and honestly has been near perfect since taking over the executive job that he had no experience in whatsoever.

Thank you to those who came before this team. To those players who hung the first 17 banners like Bill Russell and Larry Bird, and even to players like Antoine Walker and Isaiah Thomas, who didn't hang a banner at all. They all had a hand in driving this current team to strive for the excellence of hanging this 18th banner.

Thank you, obviously, to the players of the 2023-2024 NBA champion Boston Celtics, and to head coach Joe Mazzulla and his coaching staff, who were incredible all season. I'm honestly having a hard time processing the beauty of this game. They won by 18 points to bring home Banner 18, in just the third wire-to-wire clinching win of the last 50 years. They did so with defense so stifling that the Mavericks once again did not score 90 points, and with incredible joy, camaraderie, and teamwork that was inspiring to see both in the aggregate and every night of the season. I watched every second of this season from preseason to Game 5 of these NBA Finals, and I loved every single second of it, especially tonight. So many amazing things happened in this game, and I want to write about them all at some point, but that's for another day. Right now, I just want to bask in it, and I'm feeling very thankful for everyone and everything that had to come together to create this team, because everything is exactly what it takes.