It's Time To Have A Serious Talk About What Winning Back To Back Titles Will Mean When It Comes To Celtics History

Brian Babineau. Getty Images.

No matter how you slice it, we're just a few days away from one of the biggest playoff runs in recent Celtics history. This time last year, the Celts had completed one of the greatest regular seasons in NBA history (fact, not opinion), and they were faced with an insane amount of pressure when it came to getting over the hump and after years of coming up short, finally reaching the top of the NBA mountain.

This time last year, that stress, excitement, nervousness, and confidence the week before the playoffs began consumed all of us. How could it not? The stakes were clear.

Win the title, or you are now the owners of one of the greatest choke jobs in NBA history.

That was their reality, and really, the only two options. Granted that type of pressure is nothing new to the Jays Era, and as we know, they went belt to ass, finished the playoffs 16-3 and raised that ever elusive Banner 18 to the rafters where it will remain for the rest of time. 

With that win, came the validation. And while this is true for the entire roster, what I would like to focus on for this blog is what it meant for their two franchise players. Winning that title stamped both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown forever when it came to their place in Celtics history. It secured their numbers being retired, it secured their place as Celtics legends for the rest of their lives, and perhaps most importantly, it removed the possibility that they would ever fall into the "greatest Celtics to never win a title" category. If you're around my age and went the majority of your life fearful this would happen with Paul Pierce, you understand how significant that title was.

Because make no mistake, when you're talking about the true legends of the Boston Celtics, unless you bring a championship to this city and this franchise, you're on the outside looking in. It doesn't matter how many All NBA teams you make, or All Stars or really any accolade. In this franchise, the non-negotiable requirement to join this exclusive club is to win at least 1 title. You, by law, are required to have at least one moment like this

Which brings us to 2024-25 and this current group. The Champs just completed objectively one of the best title defense seasons in NBA history. Back to back 60 win seasons, something that hasn't happened since the Big 3 era. A point differential of +9.1, something that almost no defending champion can claim. The second best road record of all time. The list goes on and on.

I've spent a lot of this time off between the end of the regular season and Game 1 to take a step back and process what exactly it is that we're witnessing. It goes without saying that this has been one of the best Celtics seasons of my entire life

When you narrowly miss out on the best of the Bird Era and were mostly molded by the Rick Pitino Era, that's how it goes. Fans go their entire lives without seeing their favorite team experience what the Mazzulla Era Celtics are doing, and I know this because I've literally lived it. 

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Aside from that, this break also gives you a great opportunity to process what winning back to back titles would mean in terms of not just NBA history, but more importantly, Celtics history.

That brings me back to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. 

While this time last year there was the pressure of winning the first one, things feel a bit different this time around. It's not the same type of nerves and anticipation that I felt last year, that's the beauty that comes with finally winning. This year, the nerves and anticipation are around something different, at least for me. 

As I've sure you've heard, no Celtics team has won back to back titles since Bill Russell in 1968. It is not 2025. Think of all the titles and dominant eras we've seen from 1968 til now. No team in the 70s did it, Larry Bird never did it, Paul Pierce never did it, and these are the titans of the franchise. Depending on how you want to evaluate Hondo, he never even did it either without playing next to Russell. That's 3 of the 4 faces on the Celtics Mount Rushmore (for me). 

If the Jays are able to pull this off and become the first Celts to repeat as Champs in over 50 years, it pretty much changes everything in terms of where they stand in Celtics history. 

1. They gain access to the Multiples Club

2. They gain access to the B2B Titles Club

To help put this into context, Paul Pierce cannot get into either of these clubs, and he's one of the greatest players in franchise history. Larry Bird, the literal Basketball Jesus, does not have access to the B2B Titles Club. To think that there could be anything Celtics-related that Larry Bird does not have access to is crazy to think about, but it's what is currently on the table for the Jays.

For Jayson Tatum specifically, it's hard to downplay what a B2B title would mean for him in the context of Celtics history. Personally, I have him as of now, as the 4th greatest Celtic ever, passing Paul Pierce (I make my list by eras. One guy owns an era). This assumes his production will continue at the pace we're seeing, and by the end of it, he'll have production totals that pass what Pierce did as a Celtic. 

But a 2nd title? One that comes back to back and a potential Finals MVP? Now we're talking about a level of royalty that I am quite certain the older generation of Celts fans are not ready to concede. To me, it now goes a long way to opening up a path for Tatum to eventually climb to as high as #3 on that Mount Rushmore. There is A LOT that has to happen for him to ultimately catch Hondo, but the legacy boost he would get from Ring #2 would go a long way in his journey to taking over that Top 3 spot.

Suddenly, it would become undeniable that we are currently watching one of the greatest Celtics of all time. That now becomes fact, not opinion. While myself and others from my generation may already feel this way, a B2B ring makes it truly undeniable. It's one thing to be stamped as a Celtics legend with your first ring, but the multiples (and one being B2B) change everything about where you stand in Celtics history. Every game he plays, we learn about how he's the first Celtic to do something in a game since Larry Bird. At the end of every season, we learn about how he's the first Celtic to do something since Larry Bird

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Now, Jayson Tatum has the opportunity to do something Larry Bird never did.

Just please take a second and once again process that sentence. 

For me, this is why the feeling heading into Round 1 is different than what we experienced last year. The fear of never winning is gone and buried. Now, it's only a matter a question of "how many?". I can't lie, that fucking rules. We all know how tough it is to repeat as champions, there's certainly no guarantee it happens given the fact that, ya know, it's been 50+ years since we've seen a Celtics team do it. 

But as they prepare to defend their title, the historical significance of what is at stake should not be overlooked. That's what has me excited for this run, because in my entire life, there has only been one other instance where something like this was on the table (for Pierce in 2009). Unfortunately, that dream died with KG's knee. Shit like this simply does not come around often, if ever, so when you're presented with this type of opportunity, you have to finish the job (again).