The Boston Celtics are set up for a nice run. All the key players are locked up for another run at a championship after cruising to their NBA-best 18th title in 2024.
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are in their prime, and Derrick White and Jrue Holiday have proven to be unselfish veterans who helped mold the Celtics into a championship-caliber team. While the Celtics are a star-studded crew, two-time Celtics champion Cedric Maxwell believes the key to future banners goes well beyond the talent on the court.
Cedric Maxwell Believes a Big Weight Has Been Lifted Off the Celtics
Maxwell knows what it takes to win a championship in Boston. He was the 1981 NBA Finals MVP when the Celtics defeated the Houston Rockets for their first of three titles in the 1980s. He led all Boston scorers in Game 7 of the 1984 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers for the second championship of the decade.
Maxwell is a radio analyst for the team and has had an up-close look at the Celtics throughout the years. He loves what the future holds for the team.
“They’re in a position now, which I love,” Maxwell said on the “Cedric Maxwell Podcast.” “I absolutely love the position they are in of understanding who they’re going to be, what they can do, being able to be aggressive.
“The pressure bubble has burst for Tatum, for Brown.”
Although the Celtics secured their first championship since 2008, Maxwell said he doesn’t expect the team to lay low. He believes they’ll come out hungry next year because there’s “meat still left on the bone.”
“There’s meat still left on the bone for the Boston Celtics,” he said, “because Tatum can come back and be Finals MVP. Brown can be an All-Star. I think this team can be special, and I think they’ve got an opportunity to win again this year.”
Maxwell’s comments were in reference to Brown edging Tatum for Finals MVP and Brown getting snubbed for an All-NBA selection.
Maxwell’s Only Concern About Tatum Is Rest
The monkey is off Tatum’s back. He’s a champion now, and that should briefly quiet some of his biggest critics.
Tatum and Brown have played together for seven years. They had been awfully close to winning championship prior to this year, leaving many to question whether he and Brown were the right leaders for this team.
Although that question was answered when they defeated the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the 2024 NBA Finals, Maxwell said his biggest concern regarding Tatum next season will be rest — or lack of it.
“How is Tatum going to react?” Maxwell asked. “He’s on the Olympic team (along with Holiday and White). When does he have a chance to rest? His girlfriend is about to have a baby. He is going to be pulled at, tucked at, everything right now. How does he exhale, and how will he manage this summer? How will he manage this stuff?
Maxwell said he believes Tatum learned a lot from the pain of last year’s conference finals. The Celtics lost to the Miami Heat in Game 7 at home in a game that Tatum hobbled on a sprained ankle suffered early in the game.
“I can remember the scene when they lost to Miami,” Maxwell said. “Going into the locker room and him having his head buried. His ankle was in a tub of ice. You could just see the agony, the pain. He was able to come out of it. That’s a testament to who he is as a player and as a person.”
