Raise That Banner: The Boston Celtics Are NBA Champions

The Boston Celtics just completed one of the most dominant seasons in NBA history.

After finishing the regular season with the best record in the league, the Celtics completely steamrolled the playoff competition to win an NBA record 18th championship. That's not too bad for a team that many experts believed wasn't built to win it all.

Boston lost just three games in its postseason run to banner 18. The 16-3 record was the 10th best postseason winning percentage in league history and the best since the 2016-2017 Golden State Warriors, who only lost one game on its run.

Since the opening night of the season, the Celtics were led by its two world-class stars, Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The two teammates were finally able to silence the critics and prove to everyone that they are one of the elite duos in the NBA. Brown would even finish as the NBA Finals MVP, which is very deserving considering how well he played on both ends of the court.

However, the J's didn't do it alone. The impact of Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingus, and Jrue Holliday is practically impossible to measure. All three were acquired via trades over the last two seasons, and all three have perfectly fit into the system, culture, and city. Together, this starting five was an absolute force of nature and practically impossible to defend, especially when the outside shots were falling.

Then there's Al Horford, the consummate professional who has finally brought home a championship at the age of 38. And how fitting it is to come with Boston, a franchise that decided to bring him back after he left for the pathetic Philadelphia 76ers (a franchise known for ruining careers). Thankfully, Horford was able to escape that hellscape a few years ago and play an absolute crucial role for this team. This includes a Herculean effort through this year's postseason, especially with Porzingus missing numerous games due to injury. Talk about a player who deserves a ring.

There was also Sam Hauser and his clutch shooting and gritty defensive effort, and Payton Pritchard dropping halfcourt bombs. Plus, the timely minutes all year by Xavier Tillman, Luke Kornet, Oshae Brissett, and the rest of the Celtics deep bench was extremely impactful. This was a total team effort, and it truly paid off.

It was also an important win for Boston's embattled head coach Joe Mazzulla, who originally took over the job right before the 2022-2023 season due to off-the-court issues for former coach Ime Udoka. Since then, Mazzulla has led the Celtics to two straight Eastern Conference finals and this championship. Even with all the success, many fans and experts didn't believe Mazzulla deserved the job. Well, I think he and his team shut those people up.

Plus, Mazzulla made a little history last night, tying one of the legends in a very unique stat.

And finally, let's not forget to give credit to one of the two master architects of this team, Brad Stevens. Many expected Stevens to be on the sidelines for a championship, but the basketball gods had other plans. The former head coach seamlessly rolled into the player executive role after Danny Ainge left, and put together an absolute wagon of a roster and coaching staff. It's a team that plays together, wins together, and has a chance to repeat together. This is simply first-class stuff.

Following this championship, the Celtics now officially have the most NBA championships with 18. It's followed by the Los Angeles Lakers with 17, even though one of those was won during the stupid Covid Bubble, so we really shouldn't count that one.

Congrats to the Boston Celtics on this exciting run to another championship. The city of champions continues to live up to its name. Let's hope a repeat is in the cards.