‘Hungry' Celtics leaning into historic opportunity to repeat as champs

‘Hungry' Celtics leaning into historic opportunity to repeat as champs originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The primary goal of the 2024-25 Boston Celtics has never been in doubt. And yet, members of the team occasionally have bristled at questions about the challenges of trying to repeat as NBA champions.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla railed against the idea of the Celtics being the hunted this season, and when asked about the pressure to repeat as champions on the eve of a new season, responded, “We’re all going to be dead soon, and it really doesn’t matter.”

Jayson Tatum repeatedly rejected the suggestion of Boston “defending” its title while pointing out that no one can ever take away what they did by winning in 2024.

For much of the 2024-25 season, the Celtics embraced the process of navigating an 82-game grind with a focus on not skipping steps despite the fact that their only true goal could not be accomplished until June.

Only in recent weeks has the team finally opened the conversation about the opportunity in front of them. Despite all the banners that hang above the parquet floor, no Celtics team has repeated as champions since the 1968-69 Celtics during Bill Russell’s final season as player/coach. No NBA team has repeated as champions in the past half decade, with the 2017-18 Warriors the last to do such.

Winning consecutive titles elevates a team’s legacy. Winning one is impressive, and as Tatum stresses, that can’t be taken away. But skeptics will nitpick the path and your place in history. Winning consecutive crowns pushes teams into a different echelon.

And the Celtics are embracing that opportunity.

“Joe had a great meeting [late in the season] and great speech — we’re going for something big, we’re going for something that hasn’t been done [for 56 years] in Celtics history [and] for a while now in the NBA,” said Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis. “And we have to take that challenge.

“We have to look at it as something bigger than what we did last year. It’s like a compound effect. If we can do it again, that will make it twice as big as last year, almost. That’s the beautiful thing about it. We have to go for it, utilize this time that we have.”

A second title eliminates so much of the “what could have been” that tends to linger with teams. The 2007-08 Celtics steamrolled to Banner 17 after Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joined forces with Paul Pierce. But the 2008-09 squad might have been even better until Garnett’s knee injury derailed the quest to repeat.

That Big Three will forever be revered, but falling short in 2009 and 2010 forever leaves team members wondering if they could have won more. That the rival Lakers won consecutive titles in those two seasons doesn’t make it any easier.

The window for that last Big Three era stayed open longer than most expected, not slamming shut until Boston tripped up in the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals. The core of this current champion Celtics team knows that little is promised given the bloated cost of the roster, and that forces players to embrace the moment a little bit more.

“There is only a [small] amount of teams that have [repeated] in history and … it’s been over 50 years since the last time it’s been done [in Boston]. So that creates a desire and a hunger,” said Jaylen Brown. “A lot of times you’re going into series and they’re going to be like, ‘The other team is going to be more hungry.’ I think it’s a lot harder to win two than it is to win one, if I’m not mistaken.

“So, I think we’re chasing that. I think we’re hungry about that. And I think we’re going to go into some of these series [as] the hungrier team.”

So much of the concern entering the 2024-25 season was that the Celtics might not have the same day-to-day motivation after winning a title; that having to wait eight months to even have a chance to win another crown might conspire against them.

Instead, Boston ripped off 61 regular-season wins, produced the best road record in team history, and put up numbers only slightly less glitzy than their title season. Now, as the Celtics wait to find out their Round 1 opponent, there is a renewed hunger for what’s ahead.

“I feel like we understand [the opportunity], but more than that, I’m really hungry for it,” said 38-year-old Al Horford. “I’m really driven. I really want this for our group and for the Celtics organization. It’s one of those things that I’m just more excited, I feel like, this year than last year. So just very determined for us to get this done.”

Horford is one of the few in the Celtics’ locker room that knows what it takes to repeat on the big stage (Top assistant Sam Cassell won back-to-back NBA titles during his first two seasons in the league). Horford won consecutive national titles with the Florida Gators in 2006 and 2007, and how divine that he got to watch them win another one this past month, with Mazzulla adamantly encouraging him to make the trek to San Antonio to see the title game in person.

Horford said he’ll let pundits argue over where the Celtics slot historically, but he isn’t bashful now about reminding teammates of the opportunity to position themselves among the most revered.

“Those are things that people will have to talk about and figure out, where they want to put us and do all these things,” said Horford. “But, for us, the group that we have, and the things that we’re trying to do, this would be pretty unique. Just looking at Celtics history, the last time was late 60s for a back-to-back. So, for us, it would be pretty special.”

Mazzulla initially bristled when this reporter started a recent interview with questions about the opportunity to repeat. Up until that point, the topic had been an unstated goal in the Celtics’ locker room, with Mazzulla trying to keep the team focused on all the steps of the journey.

“I think when you compete for the Celtics, it doesn’t have to be talked about, because [winning a title is] an expectation every single year, regardless of the past result,” said Mazzulla. “Each and every single night, each and every year, we know what the standard is. And the standard is playing Celtics basketball. The standard is going after greatness with an opportunity to win.

“We haven’t been able to [repeat] in the past, but it guarantees nothing in the future. And we can’t be distracted by the result. We have to be consumed and focused on the process of what that looks like going after greatness on a nightly basis, but also as an organization. And it’s important to carry that responsibility all the time.”

Jrue Holiday won a title with the Bucks in 2021, but the team got ousted in the Eastern Conference semifinals — by the Celtics, fittingly– a year later. Like the other champions of the past half decade, those Bucks will be remembered for that title season, but few will discuss them with the reverence of the teams that won multiple crowns.

Holiday understands the opportunity in front of the Celtics.

“Nobody’s done it in damn near a decade,” said Holiday. “I think to take on that challenge and to go through that experience and go through that obstacle together as a team is something that I truly enjoy. But to be able to complete the goal or complete the task, is something that I feel like everybody on this team wants more than anything.

“It does not need to be said. I think if you know our team and if you know us personally and you know how big of competitors we are, winning is everything, and I feel like we showed that last year. Try to do it again.”