The Boston Celtics' historic season has generated ample praise and doubt from the national media. Detractors tend to point to recent playoff collapses as a sign of fraudulence or question Joe Mazzulla's ability to coach in a tight game.
On Mike Miller and Udanis Haslem's "The OG's" podcast, former Celtic fan favorite Nate Robinson went a different route, ripping the team's chances of winning the title.
"It's difficult because you want to say Boston out of the East, but they can never get it done," Robinson said. "I just have no faith in them. The 'it' factor— whatever that is, they don't have it. I don't know exactly what they're missing. They don't have that dog—they have none of it."
The Boston Celtics can be victim of their own success
The "hot take" culture surrounding the NBA is becoming increasingly insufferable. From a public perception perspective, losing in the playoffs seems more beneficial than coming up short after a deep playoff run. The Philadelphia 76ers, who have the reigning MVP, haven't made the Eastern Conference Finals since 2001 and face far less scrutiny for routinely falling short in earlier rounds.
The notion that the Celtics lack grit and fight is pure fiction. Less than a year ago, Jayson Tatum staved off elimination with a masterful fourth quarter in Game 6 and followed that up with the most points scored in a Game 7 in NBA history. The following series showed unparalleled resilience as they clawed back from a 3-0 deficit before Jayson Tatum severely sprained his ankle in the season's final game, eliminating the chance of one of the sport's most improbable comebacks.
Conveniently, the context is always left out. It's hard to know if this is intentional or ignorance, but either way, the artificial narrative starts to become reality. The C's reputation gets worse not by anything they do on the court but because comment sections and talk shows push surface-level allegations to justify a team's shortcomings.
The last time Nate Robinson was relevant was when Jake Paul knocked him out in the middle of a boxing ring. He's entitled to his opinion, but it's easy to see through the nonsense. So many former players go on their buddy's podcast and drop outlandish takes to get back into the limelight or prove that they don't watch the product.
The Celtics are not just dogs; they're wolves. They are elite on both sides of the ball, and within moments, a 6-point lead balloons to 20. The road goes through Boston for a reason, so yeah, they do have "it."