For a franchise that won three championships in the 1950s, nine in the 1960s , two in the 1970s and three in the 1980s, the last three decades have been especially dry. Since beating Houston in 1986, the Celtics have won only one NBA titles in the 34 years since—the 2008 championship, a team headed by Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.
But the current edition of the Celtics has folks around Boston hopeful that another title could be on the way in the coming years. One reason for that: Jaylen Brown, the 23-year-old forward who was in the midst of a breakthrough year before the NBA season was suspended on March 12. Brown averaged 20.4 points this year, on 49.0% shooting with 6.4 rebounds.
Brown was speaking with Celtics rookie Tacko Fall in an Instagram Live chat on Monday when he made a proclamation to Fall. The Celtics have 17 championships. Fall asked Brown, “Banner 18. When’s it coming?”
“Banner 18,” Brown said. “It’s coming right now.”
“You heard it first,” Fall said. “JB, the man himself.”
“It’s on the way, brother,” Brown said. “We’ve got to take care of the little stuff. That’s why, everybody who’s watching, you’ve got to keep working. If you’re not on the Celtics, don’t keep working so we can be a little bit better. But everybody who’s on the Celtics that’s watching, y’all keep working. Celtics Nation, appreciate you all, love the support. Banner 18 is on the way.”
Jaylen: “It’s on the way. It’s in the works. We gotta earn it.”
Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum Fuel Celtics Hopes
Certainly, it did not seem as though the Celtics were on their way to a championship when the season was cut short. After an impressive run in which the team went 14-3 from a home win over the Lakers on January 20 through their four-game Western Conference road trip at the end of February, the Celtics dropped four of six games, three of which featured big blown leads.
The Celtics were 43-21 when the season was suspended, third in the Eastern Conference, 9.5 games behind Milwaukee and 3.0 games behind Toronto.
But hope for the teams lies in Brown and 22-year-old Jayson Tatum, who are clearly the core of the franchise going forward. Tatum was an All-Star this year and the East’s Player of the Month in February.
The two nearly led the Celtics to an incredible appearance in the NBA Finals in 2018 when Boston had both Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving sidelined because of injuries. Boston took Cleveland and star forward LeBron James to seven games but lost the series finale on its home floor despite leading with 6 minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
Tacko and Jaylen and the Tootsie Slide
And, as with any good Instagram Live chat, the two put together a shareable moment when they got together and performed “The Tootsie Slide” by Drake, despite ample reluctance from Fall, who tried to change the subject. Brown won out.
As Fall awkwardly tried to follow along, Brown asked, “How you doing, Tacko?”
“I’m not doing good,” Fall said with a laugh.
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Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Makes Championship Statement, Dances With Tacko Fall