When the Boston Celtics were staring down the barrel of a season without Jayson Tatum last year, the consensus was that this would be a throwaway season for the NBA’s most successful franchise of all time. That was seemingly confirmed with their moves last summer.
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The Celtics front office traded away Jrue Holliday and let Luke Kornet and Al Horford go. Suddenly, Boston looked very different than the team that won the title two years ago. As it turns out, though, different didn’t necessarily equal being bad.
After a 0-3 start, Boston has looked like one of the best teams all year. The biggest reason for that is Jaylen Brown, who has stepped up to deliver an MVP kind of season.
Brown has put the Celtics on his back, and he’s had help from Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and the coaching staff. There have also been numerous role players who have stepped up and become major contributors. It is nothing short of amazing that the Celtics are second in the East.
Now, they have Tatum back after a startlingly fast recovery from his torn Achilles. That, however, led to more iffy predictions.
Just as people feared the Celtics would fall off the map this year, many predicted that Tatum’s return might not be such a positive thing due to the way Brown has stepped up to become the unquestioned leader of the team. However, through two games, they couldn’t be more wrong.
Tatum and Brown have coexisted happily while beating the Dallas Mavericks at home and the Cleveland Cavaliers on the road. Both victories came by double digits. The whole situation, and the dynamic between the two Celtics stars, reminds Gilbert Arenas of another one from about three decades ago.
“Y’all remember this guy by the name of Michael Jordan? He won three championships and retired, and then option 2, the Robin, took over the team, held the fort down, got them to second,” said Arenas.
Love Gil or hate him, you have to admit that there’s a kernel of truth to what he said.
“And then when Michael Jordan came back in the middle of the season, he was kind of working his way in, and then the very next season, MJ was back, Scottie Pippen was there [and the Bulls won three more titles]. There’s a formula to success, and both those guys [Brown and Tatum] understand their roles. They’re happy with their roles,” Arenas explained.
Although Pippen is one of the best players of all time, he was always clearly the second option behind Jordan. That did breed some resentment, as we’ve seen through most of Pippen’s words and actions since retirement.
But the fact is that Jordan and Pippen achieved unparalleled success on the court, even if their relationship wasn’t perfect. Tatum and Brown have always had a 1a, 1b feel to them, putting them on closer to equal footing than Jordan and Pippen ever had. There’s never been any ego war between them. The rest of the comparison is valid, though.
People have been trying to cause a rift between Tatum and Brown for years, and they’ve never been successful. These guys have always had each other’s backs, and they’ve always complemented each other on the court.
When Tatum was named All-NBA First Team, it didn’t cause problems with Brown. When Brown was named Finals MVP, Tatum was happy for him and said he deserved it. The Celtics have had so much success in recent years precisely because Tatum and Brown don’t care who gets the credit. It’s always been that way, and though we only have a two-game sample size this year, it looks like nothing has changed.
Tatum scored 15 on his comeback and followed it up with 20 in the next game. Meanwhile, Brown scored 20 points or more in both games, and the Celtics won them easily. Some things never change, and the rest of the league had better be on notice.
