The Celtics are getting back to business only a little over two months after their run in the NBA Bubble in Florida came to an end.
Like pretty much everything that’s happened this year, the season will look and feel different because of COVID-19. But after an NBA season that was interrupted in March, had to start back up in quarantine and was disrupted again by a players' strike protesting police brutality, there will be at least a sense of normalcy. But only a little bit.
When the Celtics take on the Milwaukee Buck on Dec. 23, it will be their first regular-season home game on the TD Garden parquet since their March 8 game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The stress of playing in the bubble made it next to impossible for the league to start another season in similar circumstances, but doing so leaves the league open to the exposure problems other leagues like the NFL have faced while playing. Still, head coach Brad Stevens was confident in the league’s safety protocols when he spoke to reporters at the start of training camp.
“I think as we saw with the bubble the NBA crosses every T and dots every I,” he said. “They have been great communicating with all of us. … It’s been a short break in some ways, but this is what we do and this is what we love to do. We’re hopeful that everybody continues to be safe, and we’re able to do this thing right.”
There are only 72 regular-season games scheduled this year, 10 fewer than usual, and only the first-half of the schedule has been released, leaving room for the NBA to reschedule and move around games that may have to be canceled if there are any COVID-19 outbreaks.
Players and staff are being tested daily, and the league is keeping strict guidelines on what needs to happen for a player to return after a positive test. There’s even an anonymous tip line the league has set up to report anyone who is violating the protocols.
Marcus Smart, who tested positive for COVID-19 in March, told reporters he’s impressed with how the league is handling the return.
“You can definitely tell that they’re taking the approach, ‘Better safe than sorry,’ and allowing us to get back to doing our job and bringing entertainment to the fans and the people out there,” he told reporters at the start of camp. “So, I definitely think the approach that the league is taking is a good one, and I like where it’s at.”
But he admitted it’s tougher this year to handle the situation when it’s not in a controlled situation like the bubble.
The Celtics’ lost star Gordon Hayward in free agency to the Charlotte Hornets. Point guard Kemba Walker will be out until at least the start of the new year with a nagging injury to his left knee.
That leaves more responsibility on the shoulders of Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and newcomers like Tristan Thompson and Jeff Teague.
For Tatum, who signed a five-year contract extension with the team reportedly worth up to $195 million, it’s a chance to fully develop into a superstar and becomen the face of the franchise.
The Celtics have been in the Eastern Conference finals three of the last four seasons. Their ultimate goal is to make it past that checkpoint and get to the championship — a goal that’s alluded them for a decade.
While this team may have as good a shot as any to do it, just keeping a whole team healthy and COVID-free may be the biggest challenge this year. Everything after that is a reward in itself.
