Ten must-see stops on the Celtics’ upcoming revenge tour originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Winning an NBA championship was supposed to silence the doubters, but it instead fueled them.
The Celtics may be favored to repeat, but that doesn’t mean they’ve been treated to a coronation. Quite the contrary, July and August brought incoming backlash from almost every direction, some of it very public (insert Olympic theme music), some very implied (insert Knicks theme music).
With the opener less than two weeks away, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Co. should have no lack of motivation. Let’s run through the 10 people/opponents/destinations that should carry just a little extra juice.
1. Steve Kerr
First match: November 6th at 7:30pm ET on NBC Sports Boston
This has little to do with the new-look Warriors and everything to do with their coach. He lived in the center of all the Celtic conflicts, first for his part in leaving Brown off the Team USA roster not once but twice, and then for benching Tatum for reasons even he couldn’t explainbesides saying he’s an idiot.
Kerr’s Warriors should prepare to ride the storm. While the Celtics remain firmly in their collective prime, the Warriors are a team in transition. The incomparable Steph Curry turns 37 in March and enters his 16th season. Klay Thompson is gone, Draymond Green is diminished, and the Dubs will likely be a game-in team at best.
remember last season’s 52-point blowout in Boston? That was nothing.
2. Kendrick Perkins’ house
Perk lives in Texas, right? When the Celtics visit Houston, Brown should divert the team bus and recreate his viral driving dunk from 2017even if it means stealing the ball from one of the children of the former Celtic greats and smashing his shield.
Extreme? I mean, have you heard Perk? Even those of us who make a living manning the hot hibachi think he’s losing it. Joe Mazzulla is a bird brain? No one is afraid of the Celts? He’s sick of Jayson Tatum?
While it’s easy to dismiss the heated rhetoric as Perkins giving ESPN what it wants, it’s also true that he delivers his opinions quite convincingly. Maybe he actually means every word.
3. New York Knicks
First match: October 22nd at 7:30pm ET
New York seems to be the one team in the East clearly intent on countering what the Celtics do best.
Little superstar Jalen Brunson is fearless and tough as nails, but he can’t beat Boston alone. So New York added Mikal Bridges, one of the more accomplished Tatum stoppers in the league, and then traded ball-dominant powerhouse Julius Randle to the Wolves for a better offensive fit in Karl Anthony-Towns.
Whether that’s enough to take down the C is debatable — Mazzulla was sure to torture KAT on the perimeter — but that didn’t stop the punditocracy from declaring New York the biggest threat in the East. The Celtics will have a chance to silence that talk right away, starting with the teams open the season in Boston on Oct. 22.
4. Anthony Edwards
First match: November 24 at 3:30 pm ET on NBC Sports Boston
Edwards talks like he’s Michael Jordan, and while his bravado is strangely endearing, it’s also not yet backed up by team success. He just won his first playoff series this year.
His most recently revealed trash talk, from a recently dropped Netflix documentary, is sure to light a fire under Tatum, if Edwards’ starring role on Team USA hasn’t already.
After the Wolves beat the Celtics in overtime in Minnesota last year, Edwards was caught on camera boasting how he locked Tatum down defensively. He then discussed what makes him different. “You just have it or you don’t,” Edwards said. “And I almost have it.”
Oh, yes? Maybe the Celtics will have something to say about that. As it is, when the two met in Boston for the rematch, Tatum dropped 45.
5. Jimmy Butler
First match: December 2nd at 7:30pm ET on NBC Sports Boston
The story of the Celtics not beating anyone en route to a title began in Miami, where Butler missed the first-round series and later declared that the result — Boston in 5 — would have been different if he had played. That comment earned a rare STFU from Heat president Pat Riley.
Assuming Butler is healthy, the Celtics should have little trouble finding the motivation to put their longtime tormentor in his place.
6. Mavericks
First match: January 25th at 8:30pm ET
It’s incredible how many “If you could start a team with one player today?” questions start with Luka Doncic. Did anyone watch the Finale?
The Celtics abused Doncic on defense from the opening minutes of Game 1 and never let up. Last I checked, there are two ends of the floor, and Tatum is the superstar who brings it on both. Brown too.
Dallas will be hyped for this one, because losing in the Finals hurts. Not being able to do anything about it will only irritate the wound.
7. Nuggets
First match: January 7th at 10pm ET on NBC Sports Boston
Of all the asterisks attached to last year’s headline, “You didn’t have to go through Denver,” may be the most annoying.
It’s not Boston’s fault that the Nuggets couldn’t close out the Timberwolves after opening up a 3-2 lead. And it’s such a lazy counterfactual to state that Denver would have repeated when in fact the Nuggets were a flawed two-man team before the postseason, and even the great Nikola Jokić along with running mate Jamal Murray could lift them.
Beyond that, if we’re going to criticize the Celtics’ road to a championship, we should probably acknowledge Denver’s a year earlier: three play-in teams, plus the perennially underachieving Suns. Speaking of which…
8. Devin Booker
First match: March 26 at 10:00 PM ET on NBC Sports Boston
New owner Matt Ishbia tried to buy a title by jamming Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal, and Booker together on a hastily concocted great team, and the result was a first-round sweep at the hands of the Wolves.
Phoenix may very well be dismantled at some point this season in an admission of failure, but let’s hope that doesn’t happen before the C’s hit them.
This one is mainly about the Olympics, where Booker and Durant played starring roles while Tatum languished on the bench and Brown traveled the world. Booker is a nice individual talent and a gifted scorer, but his teams have regressed over the past four years, from a 2021 playoff berth to last year’s early exit.
There’s also the fact that Booker made an All-NBA team over Brown, who went on to become a two-time postseason MVP. Devin Booker over Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown? please
9. Scissors
First match: November 25th at 7:30pm ET on NBC Sports Boston
The Brown Olympics debacle could have been avoided if Team USA had just done the sensible thing and given him the roster spot that originally went to Kawhi Leonard, a broken superstar who predictably bowed out before the Games even started.
There were a whole bunch of players on that list Brown could reasonably claim to surpass, but the one with the game most similar to his might be Leonard, a three-tier scorer on one side and a lockdown defender on the other.
What better way to pass the torch than to simply pick it up?
10. LeBron James
First match: January 23rd at 10pm ET
Do it for our kids Drew and Scal! James didn’t care about their commentary defending Russell Westbrook during the Abu Dhabi series with Denver, and he expressed his displeasure on the site formerly known as Twitter.
Scal took the heat for that oneand now the C’s should have his back!
