2 weeks Ago By Conor Ryan
By Conor Ryan The Boston Celtics have had no shortage of basketball legends grace the parquet floor. According to longtime Boston Globe basketball scribe Bob Ryan, the Celtics already have their “Mount Rushmore” of four legends etched into immortality in Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Bob Cousy, and John Havlicek. But could one of Boston’s current stars in Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown make a compelling case to leapfrog one of those hardwood legends in due time? Former Celtics guard and 1991 Slam Dunk Contest champion Dee Brown opted to pump the brakes on such talk .
.. at least for now.
“I still think they’ve got some work to do, because they’re still young,” Brown said last week ahead of “The Tradition” awards event at TD Garden. Russell, Bird, Havlicek. Paul [Pierce].
Those guys are four names that nobody would dispute. ..
. They’re gonna make their way up there. You gotta win, possibly winning multiple championships.
” Both Tatum and Brown should continue to pad their resumes this season as the leaders of a stacked 2024-25 Celtics squad. Boston has opened the year with a 15-3 record, and should be viewed as the favorites to repeat after capturing the franchise’s 18th title in June. “I think they’re the team to beat .
.. The championship has to go through Boston, and I think they take pride in that,” Brown said.
“Repeating is not easy. But I think they’re up for the challenge. I think Joe [Mazzulla] has done a great job, and I give a lot of credit to Brad Stevens.
Brad is a great guy.” It took several years for the Celtics to assemble this current roster , with Stevens elevating a strong core with trades involving Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday over the past three years. But for Brown, the Celtics’ ascension as the team to beat in the NBA was a direct result of the dynamic between Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
“I think they’ve figured out how to co-exist,” Brown said of Boston’s dynamic duo. “There’s so much talk about, ‘you need to split them up. They can’t work together.
’ And I never believed that. I always believe that every great team, you need 1A and 1B. And I think they’ve taken the challenge of understanding that they need each other.
...
It’s a tough decision to part with somebody like Marcus Smart, because he was the heart and soul of the team. But it gave Jaylen and Jayson an opportunity to be the leaders.” Last week’s award ceremony marked the first time that Brown was at TD Garden since Boston raised Banner 18 last month.
“To see those two work together, and bring another banner here is — listen, we always say this,” Brown said. “I think everybody knows the saying, ‘We don’t hang division banners here in Boston, we hang championship banners.’ So to see number 18 — have one more than the Lakers — is always a good thing.
” Conor Ryan Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023. Boston.
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