Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown achieve Celtics immortality with Finals win
This moment is freeze-framed forever – two young stars who were both drafted by Boston and who eventually brought the Celtics their 18th title.
There’s a level of permanence that a player reaches when they win a championship in Boston.
Just ask Leon Powe and Eddie House, who are still around the organization after pitching in for a title 16 years ago. Ask Cedric Maxwell. Ask Brian Scalabrine, whose status as a human victory cigar (and obvious obsession with NBA basketball) have made him the TV broadcast replacement for the late Tommy Heinsohn … another all-time Celtics great.
Once you win a title in Boston, you are permanent. That’s no disrespect to the likes of Malcolm Brogdon or Kelly Olynyk or Jared Sullinger (or certainly Isaiah Thomas or Marcus Smart, although they might be grandfathered into permanence, depending on who you ask), but the city craves championships, and players who provide them are woven into Boston’s rich sports fabric in a way that Antoine Walker won’t ever be.
But when you are a star who wins a title, you achieve something more – something closer to immortality.
That was what Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were working toward, all this time. That’s what they achieved on Monday. The Jays are no longer at risk of being written out of Boston’s lore as talented also-rans. This moment is freeze-framed forever – two young stars who were both drafted by Boston and who eventually brought the Celtics their 18th title.
With the win, Tatum and Brown transformed their past and their future. They are no longer haunted by ghosts of past failures – all of the losses were simply plot points that culminated with Tatum doubled over, his face in his hands and confetti pouring onto his back. The future is no longer a desperate pursuit of a goal dangling just out of reach, but rather living basketball history being written.
“What they gonna say now?” Tatum hollered at Brown in the locker room as the two celebrated.
All it took was unselfishness by a pair of mid-20s superstars on a level that rivaled the 2008 team full of seasoned veterans. All it took was years of tinkering by one of the brightest basketball minds in the game to surround them with perfect complementary pieces. All it took was a young coach, thrown into the spotlight unceremoniously who proved perfectly up for the moment.
All it took was 16 years.
“These last seven years have been a roller coaster, up and down,” Tatum said. “I had to listen to all the s— that people said about me, and tonight, it was worth it. Oh, my God.”
“Stamped” is the word people are using on social media, so let’s use it here. The entire Celtics roster is now stamped. This is something no one can ever take away from them.
In just two years, Joe Mazzulla (whose only previous head coaching experience was at Fairmont State in Division II) took a talented NBA team with a lot of demons and – with a sprinkle of UFC, a dash of killer whales (??) and a healthy dose of his devout Catholic faith – exorcised all of them.
Congratulations to Neemias Queta, who earned the Celtics’ final roster spot off a two-way contract with an impressive regular season and was rewarded with a ring for his efforts.
No one expects Jordan Walsh to be Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, but he was gifted the opportunity to see what greatness requires in his first season.
Svi Mykhialiuk, Oshae Brissett and Luke Kornet were essentially reduced to towel wavers in the postseason, but when the Celtics were trying to keep their stars healthy during the regular season, they helped win games and clinch playoff positioning. The Celtics aren’t the runaway No. 1 seed without solid performances from their deep bench.
Xavier Tillman played sparingly after the Celtics acquired him, but when he was called upon, he made Doncic’s life significantly more challenging and buried a big corner 3-pointer.
Sam Hauser was abysmal in the Eastern Conference finals, but under the brightest lights he rediscovered his shot and competently forced Doncic into taking the toughest shots Doncic takes – step-back jumpers that sometimes go in (because he’s Luka Doncic) but aren’t a winning formula against a Celtics 3-point barrage that includes Hauser. If Duncan Robinson is any indicator, Hauser might get a big payday down the line – shooters who make shots deep into the playoffs become generationally wealthy.
Payton Pritchard struggled in the Finals, but he was one of the team’s best players at times during the regular season and showed he might have some real potential beyond a bench role in the NBA. He also buried the most memorable shot of the Finals – a shot that put the Celtics up by 21, with echoes of Kevin Garnett’s “banks it in! And the foul!” shot from Game 6 in 2008.
Kristaps Porzingis made the Celtics unbeatable when he could play. His absence throughout the playoffs was felt, but the Celtics might not win Game 1 without him, and he battled through what sounds like a relatively serious injury to give Al Horford the rest needed to clinch in Game 5.
The trade for Porzingis weakened the Celtics’ backcourt, especially on the defensive end. Adding Jrue Holiday not only cinched that right back up again but also provided the Celtics with championship experience. There’s no metric for this, but during the Finals, you knew precisely what you were looking at when Holiday made winning plays. You were looking at a player who knew what it takes and was willing to do it. Jrue Holiday has two rings, and he feels like a multi-ring player.
Derrick White chipped part of a tooth and provided one of the hardest quotes of the postgame ceremonies (albeit in a quiet tone) when he said he would lose all his teeth if it meant the Celtics won a championship. He is as good a defender as Holiday, and a big shot maker. The Celtics probably do not win a title without him.
Every time a Celtics player was asked about Al Horford on Monday, their face split into a wide smile. Horford is the team’s beating heart – a veteran who was “starving” for a ring, who managed to stay healthy throughout his year-38 season. He should have been a no-brainer Hall of Famer before. He is a no-brainer Hall of Famer now.
And of course, Tatum and Brown cemented their legacies. Years from now, when discussing the 2024 Celtics, you might run into someone brain-poisoned by online discourse who will say the Celtics’ run to the Finals was overly easy.
But at its base, the way we talk about sports is binary: Ultimately, you either become a winner or you don’t. On Monday, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown definitively put themselves in one of those camps. They will one day be Hall of Famers. Chances are no player will ever wear 0 or 7 (or 42) in Celtics history again.
“This is a career-defining accomplishment,” a reporter noted to Tatum as he began a question.
Tatum interrupted.
“Say that again.”
A career-defining accomplishment.
“Please say that again!” Tatum exclaimed.
We’ll ask the question too: What are they gonna say now?
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com