After winning the franchise’s 18th banner earlier this year, it would be easy for the Celtics to stroll into their annual media day with a sense of comfort.
But speaking to press gathered at Auerbach Center on Tuesday, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens made it clear that being comfortable is the last thing on this team’s mind.
“All the things you embraced the last season and all the things you say that you’re about will be tested at a greater level,” Stevens said. “And so, you know, if you’re really about that, you elevate yourself even higher.”
Fresh off taking down the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the Finals, Stevens said the margin of error for winning is small. And that the team has to give everything it has each time it takes the court.
As training camp gets underway this week, the Celtics will prepare to face the daunting task of being the NBA’s defending champions. And all of the weight that comes with that title.
They’re the first team in the league to hold a media day as they prepare to face the Denver Nuggets for a pair of preseason exhibitions in the United Arab Emirates early next month.
And while bringing the Larry O’Brien trophy back to Boston makes for a memorable offseason, it doesn’t change head coach Joe Mazzulla’s expectations.
“Whether if we would have lost last year, our goal would be to win a championship this year,” he said. “So I think just clearly stating we want to win a championship every single year. That’s the goal, that’s the standard, that’s the expectation.”
Still, there have been some distractions. Currently, the team is in the early process of being sold, a move that caught many observers by surprise. And although Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White won gold medals in Paris as members of Team USA’s men’s basketball roster, much of the focus on Tatum has been on his lack of playing time in the games.
Despite that attention, Tatum is focused on what the Celtics are looking to do now.
“It was never just about just trying to win one, right?” he said. “Now, you get to be mentioned with the, at least be in the same room with the other Celtics great teams, the other great players. All the guys that I looked up to growing up at least won one championship. So now it’s just a conversation of, 'How great are you trying to be?’”
Jaylen Brown, who won Finals MVP but was notably left off the Olympic roster, found himself at the center of many basketball conversations about what that snub meant. But on Tuesday, Brown was looking ahead. He noted how the feelings between losing and winning were similar, just on the opposite ends of the spectrum.
“When you’re at the bottom, you can go one way or the other. When you’re at the top, you can keep going or you can go down. So it kind of feels, weirdly, oddly enough, the same,” Brown said. So I’m just excited to just to start the journey again. Could of used another couple weeks. But no complaints here, I rather end every season like we did last year, so let’s get it going.”
That journey will get its proper start when the team tips off the regular season next month against the New York Knicks at TD Garden.
