BRIGHTON — The champs have returned.
For the first time since celebrating the franchise’s 18th NBA Championship with a long awaited parade through Boston back in June, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the rest of the Celtics were back together on Tuesday morning to commence their title defense.
One would expect a bit of a different vibe stemming from head coach Joe Mazzulla and his squad this year seeing as they finally got over the hump to win it all. But it was business as usual for their annual Media Day at the Auerbach Center training facility in Brighton, and the expectation remains the same for the talented group.
“Quite honestly, zero. Zero difference,” Mazzulla said when asked if it feels different coming into this season after winning a title. “And I think you’re ever lucky to do it again, when it does feel different, that’s when I’d rather not do it anymore.”
Mazzulla’s players echoed those sentiments with regularity as they took the podium one by one, making it clear that the hunger to hang another championship banner in 2025 is very much alive.
In bringing back virtually an identical roster to last year’s, Boston remains the favorite to stand atop the mountain once again next summer. But that’s easier said than done, and only time will tell if ‘running it back’ was truly the right decision for this group.
Regardless, there’s a lot to be encouraged by as the Celtics get set to open training camp on Wednesday. Here’s five immediate takeaways from Media Day as we prepare for what should be another exciting year at TD Garden.
1. Continuity a luxury
With the exception of seldom used reserves Oshae Brissett and Svi Mykhailiuk, Boston returns the entirety of their core.
On paper that makes perfect sense; it’s a group that won the Eastern Conference with a 64-18 record, held a +11.6 point differential and nearly swept their way to a title, dropping only three playoff games along the way. Last season newcomers Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis added a different dimension to an already stacked rotation, and with a year of playing together under their belt, that overall rapport has only grown.
“I know what my role is (now) and what I’m going to do and I feel like we have a lot of the same team,” said Holiday. “People are gonna say that we suck and then other people are gonna be like we’re really good. (So) at the end of the day I think we have to keep our circle tight, fight together and try to win our last game like we did this last season.”
2. Walker IV enters the fold
Outside of rookie draft picks Baylor Scheierman and Anton Watson (two-way contract), the lone offseason addition for Boston was 25-year-old Lonnie Walker IV. That was of course a topic of discussion on Tuesday, and Boston’s players seem ecstatic to have the athletic swingman in town.
Celtics guard and Olympic Gold Medalist Derrick White previously played with Walker IV in San Antonio, and spoke on their reunification.
“It was good seeing Lonnie again, that was my guy, he got drafted the year after me so we were kind of just a couple young guys trying to figure it out, learning under Pop (head coach Gregg Popovich),” said White, who recently inked a 4-year, $118M contract extension with the team. “So it’s always good to see him; good guy, good energy around the gym and can obviously do a lot of special things on the court.”
Walker IV appeared in 58 games for Brooklyn last year, averaging 9.7 points while knocking down better than 38 percent of his 3-point attempts. It wasn’t long ago that he willed the Lakers to a comeback playoff victory over Golden State in the 2023 West semifinals, scoring 15 points off the bench in the fourth quarter.
He’s 6-foot-4 with a 6-11 wingspan, super athletic, and a score-first player capable of knocking down triples in bunches. It’s going to be interesting to see where or if Mazzulla will use him in a heavy guard rotation that already includes Brown, White, Holiday and Payton Pritchard.
3. Healthy and whole
The Celtics were fortunate to get through the 2024 championship run with limited injuries. In fact, the only notable injury was to Porzingis (ankle/foot), and it appears he’s way ahead of schedule in terms of returning to the court.
Porzingis waltzed to the podium on Tuesday with no sign of a limp, no braces or wraps, and an exuberant smile from ear to ear. The expectation is that he will return to play sometime in December, but if Tuesday was any indication, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him even earlier than that.
“It was a rare injury, got the surgery done right after the parade and then it was three or four weeks or so kind of at home hanging out,” said Porzingis, who added that he’s already running again, shooting normal, and began light contact drills over the weekend.
“I’m doing a lot of stuff honestly … and it felt really good afterward so I think it’s a really good sign. I’m optimistic as always … hopefully be back out there with the guys as soon as possible.”
Stevens did mention that fellow big men Luke Kornet (wrist) and Xavier Tillman (knee scope) also had offseason surgeries, but should be good to go now.
4. Sale of team not a concern right now
The somewhat stunning news that Celtics’ owner Wyc Grousbeck would be selling the team is something that certainly can’t be ignored. In all likelihood any deal that does go down won’t happen during the 2024-25 campaign, but the magnitude of the situation was still obviously going to be brought up at Tuesday’s session.
Any of the slew of players who fielded questions on the subject tended to have the same response: “That’s for ownership to figure out, we support Wyc and wish him the best, etc.”
Boston’s core — i.e. Tatum, Brown, Holiday, White, etc. — are all locked up for the foreseeable future. Any looming sale of the team almost certainly won’t effect the bones of the rotation, but the pricey roster will undoubebdtly come into play in future seasons, especially under the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) which includes a litany of tax fines for being over the salary cap.
5. Brown, Tatum extra motivated
Whether they’ll admit it fully or not, Brown and Tatum’s involvement, or lack thereof, with Team USA at this past summer’s Olympic Games is unquestionably playing a role in their approach to the new season. Tatum was benched for two full games for Team USA and sparingly played in the others, while Brown was inexcusably left of the roster entirely.
“God damn, question No. 1,” Brown said with a laugh after opening his presser with a question directly related to the Olympics. “I’m ready to go, I’m excited about being back, the past is the past but I’m ready to get after it, lead our guys, build some team chemistry, not skip any steps and just set the tone for another year.
“I’m extremely motivated for obvious reasons.”
Tatum was candid on his experience, and is likewise ready to move on.
“In real time it was tough,” he said. “Did I need any extra motivation coming into the season? No. (But) it was a unique circumstance, something that I hadn’t experienced before in my playing career. Whatever the reason is, I haven’t figured it out yet, but I’m a believer that everything does happen for a reason.”
Sports Editor Nick Giannino may be contacted at 978-675-2712 or ngiannino@northofboston.com.