The Celtics are literally playing around with the rest of the NBA

All of last season, the Boston Celtics were the best team in the NBA. They won 64 regular-season games and then enjoyed a 16-3 run in the playoffs, all capped off by an NBA Championship. Despite the narratives of the media and the injured status of some of Boston’s postseason opponents, the Celtics were dominant.

Now, they are getting ready for a second straight season with nearly the same roster. The front office did an impeccable job of keeping the roster intact, losing only Oshae Brissett and Svi Mykhailiuk. And as training camp gets going, Joe Mazzulla is doing everything in his power to prepare the Celtics for greatness.

Even if that includes a game of Duck, Duck, Goose.

Some teams trade, the Celtics play games

After practice on Sunday, the Celtics invited the children of their players and staff to the Auerbach Center, the team’s training facility. Once their session wrapped up, the kids ran all over the court, played games, and had some fun.

That fun included a game of knockout, a game of “let’s all chase Amile Jefferson,” and, of course, a game of Duck, Duck, Goose. But the kids weren’t the only ones playing. Jayson Tatum and Mazzulla joined in on the action, too.

Two days after the New York Knicks made a massive blockbuster trade, landing Karl-Anthony Towns in a deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves, Tatum was sitting criss-cross apple sauce on the floor playing a game of Duck, Duck, Goose.

Boston is literally playing around with the rest of the NBA.

They aren’t playing around in the sense of not taking things seriously. That couldn’t be further from the truth. The Celtics are taking this year more seriously than any season in recent memory. Multiple players have spoken up about how this is the toughest training camp they’ve been a part of.

The Celtics are playing around in the sense that they don’t care what the rest of the league is doing. As Towns catches a flight to the Big Apple and Paul George settles into The City of Brotherly Love, the Celtics are playing Duck, Duck, Goose and wiffle ball.

Mazzulla has them focusing solely on themselves, and that’s exactly how it should be.

Winning a championship is difficult. Winning two in a row is close to impossible. There’s a reason that nobody has done it in six years. But the Celtics are looking to change that.

Ironically, by playing Duck, Duck, Goose and ignoring everything going on around the league, they are putting themselves in the perfect position to do so.