Cedric Maxwell won’t call Boston Celtics east favorites because of the Milwaukee Bucks

Boston Celtics legend Cedric Maxwell is one of the key voices in Cs media circles. His word holds weight, earning that right with a 1981 NBA Finals MVP with Boston back during the last decade the Celtics truly dominated the east.

At this point, despite owning the most impressive record in the 2022 calendar year, it’s not quite time to crown this team the definitive favorites in the Eastern Conference. Maxwell’s reasoning was simple and effective.

The champs are here, and they are deer.

The Milwaukee Bucks are what holding Maxwell back from fully committing to calling this Cs team the definitive favorites in the Eastern Conference:

"“If they stay healthy, to me, the Boston Celtics right now are one of the teams that should be, I think, especially in the Eastern Conference Finals. A month and a half ago, we weren’t even thinking that. … But there’s also the defending champs right now that are here in the East with you in the Milwaukee Bucks. Don’t sleep on ’em.”"

Despite the hesitancy to prematurely crown the Cs as the crème de la crème in the east, Maxwell knows this team is structurally sound and operating at elite levels. In particular, he was high on the ‘Jays’, Marcus Smart, and Robert Williams in the starting lineup.

Daniel Theis got a shoutout for being someone that puts the Cs at nine deep. He rounds out the second unit contributors along with Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and Grant Williams that have boosted Boston during a scorching post-trade deadline stretch.

Milwaukee remains the team to beat in the east until further notice, though, of course. Giannis Antetokounmpo is having another unfathomable season, and his supporting cast has proven to be enough to hang a banner in the Fiserv Forum.

Perhaps they’ll end up proving Maxwell right and make anyone sleeping on the defending champions pay.