The Boston Celtics secured the 18th championship in franchise history last season. Joe Mazzulla's team was dominant on both sides of the ball, ranking in the top three for offensive rating, defensive rating and net rating. Jayson Tatum was at the forefront of the team's success, sacrificing his usual scoring role to serve as a metronome for his teammates.
When speaking with The Athletic's Jared Weiss, the All-Star forward admitted that while he's looking forward to Boston's ring ceremony on Oct. 22, he is keen for the Celtics to put their success behind them as they bid to compete for back-to-back titles.
“I’m of the mindset that after ring night, in a weird way, we got to put that behind (us),” Tatum said. “Last year was last year. We did it. It was a dream come true. We worked our ass off for it. But after ring night, we gotta move on. We gotta get ready for game two."
Tatum's mindset is exactly what the Celtics need. Multiple teams around the NBA have strengthened their rotations this summer. The New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers have positioned themselves to compete at the top of the Eastern Conference and the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks have both made moves out West.
The Celtics can't rest on their success from last season. They must find a way to stay hungry and improve every aspect of their approach. Otherwise, teams will begin gaining ground and the team's chances of following up their most recent championship with another will dwindle.
Tatum's star running mate, Jaylen Brown, has recently issued a battle cry for the Celtics, too. The Georgia native is welcoming the challenges that lie ahead.
“We celebrated, we had a good time, it’s been an awesome summer — I’ve been having a great summer by the way,” Brown said. “…Now we got the target on our back. Everybody is trying to come after us, and I’m like, come on.”
With hungry stars like Tatum and Brown, Boston should be well-positioned to return to the NBA Finals next season. Still, nothing is ever as easy as it seems, so Mazzulla's team must be ready to put in the hard miles.
