Celtics Looking for Repeat Championship After Historic Season

Majority owner Wyc Grousbeck of the Boston Celtics celebrates with the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy after Boston's 106-88 win against the Dallas Mavericks in Game Five of the 2024 NBA Finals in Boston on June 17, 2024. Elsa/Getty Images

The Boston Celtics understand the challenge in front of them.

The team finished last season with the best regular-season record in the NBA, 64–18, and won its 18th NBA title, the most in league history.

The players and coaches are trying to put last season’s success behind them and create new, even greater legacies.

“I think being in a situation like this tests why you do what you do because you can’t only do it for the good times,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said at the team’s media day on Sept. 24. “I think when you go through an experience like last year, it really just tests your internal motivation. And if you’re going to be externally motivated, that’s going to die out, and you'll kind of be exposed for your external motivation relatively quick.

“But I think going through successes and failures kind of tests your internal, intrinsic motivation as to what you’re really going after.”

Boston will have a formidable lineup again this season.

The starting backcourt will likely consist of Jrue Holiday, one of the NBA’s best defensive players, and Derrick White. The frontcourt could create matchup problems with forwards Jaylen Brown, the 2024 Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP, and Jayson Tatum. Five-time All-Star Al Horford will get the start at center.

Fellow center Kristaps Porzingis underwent successful surgery on his lower right leg after the championship series against Dallas. He is expected to be back in the lineup early in the season. Porzingis averaged 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game last season.

It’s already been a good year for Tatum. After winning the NBA title with the Celtics in June, Tatum was part of the U.S. Olympic basketball team that won its fifth-straight gold medal at the Paris Olympics in August.

Tatum has shifted his focus to helping the Celtics win back-to-back championships for the first time since the 1968 and 1969 seasons. If Tatum can lead Boston to another title, he will put his name among the all-time Celtics greats.

“It was never about trying to just win one,” Tatum said at the Media Day on Tuesday. “Now you get to at least be in the same room with the other Celtics great teams, great players. All the guys I looked up to growing up won at least one championship. Now it’s just a conversation of how great are you trying to be? What room or what tier are you trying to be mentioned in when it’s all said and done?”

As the defending NBA champions, the Celtics will host the first game of the season on Oct. 22 against the New York Knicks. On that festive night, the franchise will unveil the championship banner and distribute rings to the players for winning the title.

Mazzulla hopes to be in the same situation next season and beyond.

“We want to win a championship every single year,” Mazzulla said. “That’s the goal, that’s the standard, that’s the expectation.”