Tatum, Brown should conduct Celtics’ title defense as a revenge tour originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Get rested. Get right. Get revenge.
Not the typical rallying cry to inspire a title defense, but this hasn’t been an ordinary offseason for the world champion Boston Celtics.
If C’s superstars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown expected validation in the wake of Banner 18, they have been repeatedly, humiliatingly disabused of that notion.
We all know what happened at the 2024 Paris Olympics. First, Brown didn’t make Team USA, skipped as Kawhi Leonard‘s injury replacement even after winning both playoff MVP awards. When he insinuated that the decision rested partly with uber-sponsor Nike, he was subjected to a demeaning back-and-forth with USA Basketball’s Grant Hill, who suggested he stop believing conspiracy theories. Brown emerged diminished, looking like a second-tier star who’s still not welcome in the cool kids’ club.
What happened to Tatum was even worse. Fresh off the title that made him the potential face of the sport, he found himself buried behind the old guard at the Paris Olympics. Head coach Steve Kerr benched Tatum for two full games as a healthy scratch, and then barely gave him 10 minutes in the gold medal tilt vs. France. Even Tatum’s mom wanted to know what the hell was going on.
It’s enough to make you wonder if there’s a conspiracy at work against the Celtics, as if sabotaging the two stars now is meant to keep them from repeating as champions.
After all, at exactly the moment when the duo should be waving scepters, they’ve instead been waved away dismissively. They finally kick down the door, only to find a security gate slamming shut in their face.
The NBA establishment doesn’t seem to believe the Celtics deserved their title. So dominant was their run that we were improbably subjected to a revival of the Jayson vs. Jaylen debate in the playoffs, complete with soap opera spot shadows evaluating the former’s reaction to the latter winning Eastern Conference Finals MVP and other ephemera.
Former Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams noted on his podcast that you can’t name another duo so consistently pitted against each other. Partnerships involving guys who didn’t even necessarily like each other — Jordan and Pippen, Kobe and Shaq — were nonetheless joined by “and,” whereas Brown and Tatum are often described with “versus.” For years, discussions centered around splitting them instead of maximizing their alliance.
A championship should’ve changed that, but the Celtics apparently benefited from an easy-peasy path, which conveniently denies their agency in making it look that way. Beating the Heat without Jimmy Butler, the Cavs (mostly) without Donovan Mitchell, and the Pacers after an injury to Tyrese Haliburton affixed an asterisk to their Finals run that not even mauling the full-strength Mavericks in five games could dispel.
Did anyone make a similar point about Nikola Jokić‘s 2023 Nuggets after they beat three play-in teams en route to a title? No. But the rules seem different for the C’s and their two young stars.
That’s OK, because now comes the fun part.
For the next six weeks, Brown, Tatum, and Co. should relax and reset before they reload. Title defenses are never easy, which is why the NBA has had a unique champion for six straight years, tying a record set from 1975-80.
The usual challenge is complacency, but that shouldn’t be an issue for the C’s, not if their two stars have any pride. The doubts they overcame to win it all remain stubbornly embedded, and there’s an entire commentariat just drooling to proclaim the 2024 banner a lucky one-off.
There’s only one way to silence that talk, and it’s to do it again.
The fiery Brown never lacks motivation, and Tatum only let us see how much the criticism had fueled him after finally lighting a victory cigar. (“What are they gonna say now?”) If either of them expected that to be the end of it, they were sorely mistaken.
So prepare for a season unlike any other. Title defenses and revenge tours don’t typically overlap, but welcome to the 2024-25 Boston Celtics. If only the season started tomorrow.
NBC Sports Boston
