The 2023-2024 NBA champions started their season this past October, and let’s say it has been a rocky start.
Drama seemed to accelerate during the Olympics this past summer when three Boston Celtics players were invited to play for Team USA. Then one was benched and one made the team instead of a highly anticipated choice.
Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics forward, was Eastern Conference finals MVP and Finals MVP. Due these accolades, he was the popular choice to land a spot on Team USA, but unfortunately he did not. This was believed to have occurred because of his relationship with Nike.
Two years ago after former Celtics player Kyrie Irving lost his Nike contract after posting a controversial video on social media. Brown had shot back at Nike, questioning why Nike cares about ethics now.
To be clear, Brown strongly believes that Irving did not mean what he had posted about, but in the end he pointed out it is ironic Nike cares about ethics when it comes from a player instead of their own guidelines. Jaylen Brown spoke out saying that he was convinced that these comments and his rocky relationship with Nike caused him from being selected as a Team USA player.
On top of Brown’s Olympic drama, Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics forward, had his own problem with the Olympics.
Steve Kerr, coach of the Golden State Warriors, was chosen to coach Team USA in the 5×5 Olympic Men’s Basketball Tournament. Besides the Jaylen Brown issue, with Kerr having a stacked team, with notable players such as Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durrant, and Joel Embid this was expected to be an easy game and fun to watch; however, one of these players barely touched the court.
Jayson Tatum was unfortunately benched for almost the entire Olympic season with no public announcement as to why. Most believe that it was due to the coach, Steve Kerr, who has a close relationship with Stephen Curry. This past Paris 2024 Olympic Games was Stephen Curry’s first Olympic appearance, so it would make sense for Kerr to want Curry to have a big debut moment, but it was not fair to Jayson Tatum.
From both of these moments over the summer, the Boston Celtics and their fans have nicknamed the 2024-2025 season the ‘Revenge Tour’.
With a record of 14-3 the Celtics are attempting to prove themselves once again. At the end of last season, people had begun to lose respect for the Boston Celtics. Claiming they had only won due to other teams injuries and flat out hating on Jayson Tatum online. The Celtics have definitely come into this season with a vengeance to gain Banner 19.
The most anticipated game of the season was the Warriors game on November 6th. Not only because of the Steve Kerr incident over the summer, but because of the brotherly hate between Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum. This left a lot for Jayson Tatum to not only prove to himself, but to prove to the internet. Unfortunately it was not a win for the Celtics, and it even led to Tatum denouncing the Revenge Tour and claiming that it was just normal basketball.
A few games later, the Celtics took on the Milwaukee Bucks, and fortunately this was a win for the Celtics, but unfortunately it led to a blow towards Jaylen Brown.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks center, took a cheap shot at Jayleln Brown by elbowing him in the face. After some words, Antetokounmpo extended his hand but before Brown could shake he took it back and mockingly fixed his hair. Brown did not like this and called Giannis a child.
Nike then responded to this stating…
“Nothing childish about ’em. 59 for the Greek freak.”
This continues the Brown – Nike feud, and may prove to start a bigger problem. On top of this feud Brown released his own shoe brand 741 in order to get his own name and in the shoe industry, and prove the point that he does not need to wear Nike in order to play his best.
Also, Brown’s teammate, Payton Pritchard, has not only been showing his respect for Jaylen Brown’s objectives by wearing a pair of 741s, but Pritchard has made more three pointers this season, than the highly acclaimed Stephen Curry. Payton Pritchard is a bench player and has had 78 three pointers compared to starter Steph Curry’s 63 three pointers.
For some more good news this season, lovable Celtics player Kristaps Prozingis made a wicked insane return from a injury that kept him out of the season so far. Him and his best bud, Jaylen Brown, (the duo known as ‘Cookies & Cream) had some crazy moments during the November 25th game that for sure kept Celtics fans energy up.
This past Sunday, the Celtics lost their chance, for the moment, to be number one in the NBA with a tough loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers are now considered the best in the league but looking at the Celtics aggressive attitude, the Cavaliers stance won’t last long.
On top of this loss, the Celtics surprisingly lost their spot in the NBA Cup Tournament. On Wednesday morning it was announced that the Celtics would come up short of the knockout stage. They had gotten to this stage last year so it was unexpected they would be eliminated so quickly.
Despite those recent events, the Boston Celtics so far has proved that the team is an entertaining, strong and powerful group of players. The journey to Banner 19 will be one to closely watch.