With Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward returning at full health, the Boston Celtics are the Eastern Conference favorites entering the 2018-19 NBA season.
In March of 2000, a former Boston Celtics coach once ranted about how certain stars of the past was “not walking through that door” to reinforce how a rebuilding team needed time and development to be a winner once again.
That coach was Rick Pitino and some of the players he named were Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale. Although Pitino never built a winner in Boston, the team formulated its next big three in 2008.
Led by Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, the Boston Celtics hoisted their 17th NBA championship banner and appeared destined to win a couple more. While injuries and old age eventually got in the way, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge learned from what happened to the team in the 90s and traded Garnett and Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets for a package that has set the team up for the present and the future.
Along with signing marquee free agents like Al Horford and Gordon Hayward, Ainge used a few of those picks to draft Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. He used another in a trade that acquired All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving from the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Now, led by head coach Brad Stevens, the Boston Celtics are set up to contend for an NBA title in at least the next couple seasons (if not right now). It took patience, time and a little bit of losing, but 18 years later there are five stars walking through that door for a team that came just a quarter away from defeating the best player in the world without two of those stars.
The reason they got that far was because they played team ball. Most importantly, the young players on the team were given the opportunity to grow and turn into stars themselves.
Entering the 2018-19 NBA season, the Boston Celtics are the favorites in the East. They are the favorites because of what they did a season ago and who they have returning this season. Led by Irving and Hayward, the green and white have a quintet of stars with their own niche on the team and something to prove this season.
In remembrance of Pitino’s epic rant, here are the five players now walking through that door.
Al Horford is more than average
The star with the least hype going into the 2018-19 NBA season is Al Horford.
Coming off an All-Star season in which he scored 12.9 points and averaged 7.4 rebounds, Horford doesn’t have All-Star numbers, but he is an important player on this Boston Celtics team because of all the little things he does well.
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At 6-foot-10, 245 founds, the versatile big man gives head coach Brad Stevens many options. He can play down low against opposing big man and he can play the stretch forward role Stevens loves to have on the floor.
In a way, Horford is the glue that makes everything work both offensively and defensively. His ability to pass the ball from on top of the key opens the floor for Kyrie Irving and the wing players.
While Boston Celtics fans know the importance of Al Horford, Sports Illustrated does as well. They actually ranked Al Horford at No. 16 in the top 100 players ahead of the 2018-19 season. That is actually one spot ahead of Kyrie Irving.
What makes Horford the highest rated Celtics player according to SI?
"“Incredible two-way player,” SI’s Ben Golliver wrote. “Defensively everybody knows what he can do. He can anchor an elite defense, that’ what he did last season. He’s been doing that for years. Positional flexibility, he can guard multiple guys. If he gets switched out on the perimeter, he doesn’t get those crazy happy feet and get spun around in a circle, you know, doing the do-si-do. He’s very comfortable in terms of containing guards and a very flexible guy where you can’t pick on him in a playoff series with really anybody.”"
Al Horford proved that in the 2018 playoffs, particularly the second round against the Philadelphia 76ers. It was his defensive efforts against Joel Embiid that allowed the Boston Celtics to out the 76ers in five games.
Jaylen Brown has the leadership of a star
One of the reasons the Boston Celtics got as far as they did last season without Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving was the development and maturity level of Jaylen Brown.
Entering his sophomore season in the NBA, Brown knew he had some things to improve on and he certainly did that. He not only took on more of a scoring role by improving his scoring average from 6.6 points a game in his rookie season to 14.5 points per game, he became a consistent three-point threat shooting 39.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Most importantly, he was a big performer in big games. He hit a clutch game-winning shot in a regular season game against the Utah Jazz and came up big in games against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors.
Above his scoring, it was his high intensity and emotional leadership that rallied the Celtics in most games. With hopes of making the next leap into NBA stardom, Jaylen Brown knows he needs to continue to improve on other aspects of his game.
Modeling his game after a former star like Tracey McGrady is not a bad way to make that happen.
Jaylen Brown said he patterned his game after Tracy McGrady. Getting invited to work out with T-Mac this summer was a big thrill.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) September 24, 2018
Jaylen Brown worked out with McGrady over the summer and said during Boston Celtics media day that he worked hard over the summer on some of the things he is not good at.
Hopefully one of those things was his ball-handling.
Gordon Hayward looking for an All-Star caliber comeback
Boston Celtics fans only got to see a few minutes of Gordon Hayward in a regular-season game in 2018, but it is how he handled his season-ending injury off the court that has fans and teammates excited.
With how gruesome the injury looked on that October night at Quicken Loans Arena, there was fear that Hayward’s career could be over. It also temporary dampened a season of high expectations.
But, the way the team bounced back and the way Hayward quickly turned his focus to rehabbing, there is a different kind of excitement this season. Just about back to 100 percent, Gordon Hayward is ready to contribute to a team that made it all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals.
He knows, however, that being away from the game for a year will have his rhythm and groove off. Hopefully, that will all take care of itself pretty quickly. If it doesn’t, he’ll have the time to find his game again now that he is part of a Big Five.
As far as having anything to prove?
Sure, Gordon Hayward would love to show the NBA basketball world that he can be the All-Star caliber player he was prior to the injury, but he isn’t putting the pressure on himself.
"“I don’t think I necessarily have anything to prove,” Hayward said at media day. “But internally I want to be the best version of myself.”"
Playing for a coach like Brad Stevens, he will certainly get that opportunity.
Jayson Tatum out to prove rookie season was no fluke
In 2017-18, Jayson Tatum further solidified Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge as a genius.
Selection No. 3 overall in the 2017 NBA Draft after the team swapped picks with the Philadelphia 76ers, Tatum proved he was worthy of the No. 1 overall selection.
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Thrown into the heat after Gordon Hayward went down, Jayson Tatum scored 13.9 points over 80 games. He not only showed flashes of scoring dominance, he showed the type of maturity that impressed NBA legends like Paul Pierce and Kobe Bryant.
Ironically, Tatum has drawn comparisons to those two players with his ability to create his own shot off the dribble. He took that combination of skills to another level in the NBA playoffs.
As one of the team’s most consistent scorers in the playoffs, averaging 18.5 points in 19 games played, Jayson Tatum did not back down from LeBron James. The lasting impression of the NBA Rookie of the Year finalist was his dunk on LeBron. It looked like a coming of age moment for a young player already leaping into stardom.
While there is a chance Tatum could see his minutes decrease this upcoming season, he should be even better in his sophomore season. Working out with a player such as Kobe Bryant can only make him better mentally and help him grow as a player.
"“The overall experience of interacting with him on a personal level-he’s my all-time favorite player – that really meant a lot to me,” Tatum said of working out with Kobe. “There were a few things he showed here and there that can help make it easier for me. But just being around him. His mindset that he had going into each year, just to always improve and not backtrack and get better each season as he wanted to continue to grow as a player.”"
Working on is his physical game is also something Jayson Tatum has been committed on working on over the summer. A stronger, more physical Tatum will certainly make him a tougher player to deal with.
Kyrie Irving out to prove his commitment to Boston
What Boston Celtics found out in 2017-18 is that Kyrie Irving is every bit the superstar he was chalked up to be.
After forcing a trade from LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, Irving led the Celtics in scoring with 24.4 points and dazzled fans and opposing players with his amazing ball-handling skills.
There was a point in the season, following the team’s long early-season winning streak that Irving was in considerable running for league MVP. Injuries, however, slowed Irving and eventually ended his season prior to the playoffs.
Led by the emergence of Jayson Tatum and Terry Rozier, the Boston Celtics still reached the Eastern Conference Finals, but one has to wonder just how far the team would’ve went had Kyrie Irving not been sidelined with knee issues.
The fact that the team still got as far as they did lead to questions on whether the team even needs Irving. With his scoring ability, the answer to that is obvious, but the fact that he is entering the final year of his contract has led to rumors about his desires to play in New York.
With his long-term commitment to the team in question, Kyrie Irving will play all season long with those questions and rumors lurking. How he and his teammates handle that will determine how far they go.
As of right now, Irving knows the type of future the Boston Celtics have and at least says he wants to be apart of it.
"“My job is to really cement myself as the leader of the Boston Celtics, along with our other great players, and really relish in that opportunity,” Irving said in an interview with Jackie MacMullan. “Obviously, it’s everyone else’s job to look forward to my future before I can. I just really thought it was important to make sure it’s known that his franchise is really built for the next few years of being at the top tier of teams in the league, and who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?”"
Furthermore, Kyrie Irving admitted he has thoughts of having No.11 hanging in the rafters along with great Boston Celtics like Bill Russell. That certainly sounds like commitment.