With less than one week remaining in the NBA regular season, many would consider the Boston Celtics the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference in the playoffs once again. The Cleveland Cavaliers may have a better record, but Boston is still the team to beat. Even a 62-win (and counting) regular season for Cleveland has not been enough to sway the opinion of the general public. The consensus take is clear: The Celtics are still an absolute juggernaut.
But with Boston's recent success, it can almost be easy to forget that things were not always this way. It was not too long ago the Celtics were the team that had the talent to go deep in the playoffs, but routinely came up short due to their lack of experience. People counted out the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown duo in the past, and questioned whether they had what it takes to ever win a championship.
Obviously, those doubts have been quelled now. But it is still important to go back and remember just how much the Celtics were doubted for a time. Doing so can make us appreciate what they are doing now that much more. Before Boston was the offensive manifesto and unstoppable force they are in the present day, they were simply the team that couldn't win a title because they were so inexperienced.
Boston was once the inexperienced young squad in the East
Looking back on Jaylen Brown's rookie season in 2016-17, that was the year it feels like this current run of greatness unofficially began for the Celtics. They won over 50 games for the first time in six years, and made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals after losing in the first round the prior two years. However, they were defeated soundly by LeBron James and the Cavaliers in the East Finals.
The next year, they were closer, but still too inexperienced as Game 7 LeBron proved to be too much in the Eastern Conference Finals (despite Jayson Tatum's monster poster). In 2019, it was Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks defeating Boston in the second round. The next season, the more experienced Miami Heat also proved to be too much. In 2021, it was the veteran and star-laden Brooklyn Nets that ousted the Celtics in the playoffs.
But in 2022, it all began to come together as Boston made their first run to the Finals. Fast forward three more seasons, and now the Celtics are the team with a plethora of playoff experience with stars that have been there and done that. They now stand alone as the only core of players in the East with true championship experience.
With Jimmy Butler's Heat dismantled and Giannis' Bucks severely diminished after the loss of Khris Middleton and now Damian Lillard's injury, Boston is in a class of their own. The narrative that plagued them for years is now ironically one of their biggest strengths.