Getty Veteran guard Patrick Beverley weighs in on whether or not the Boston Celtics are a "soft" team.
The Boston Celtics begin their quest to bring home Banner 18 on Thursday, June 6, when they host the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals. The Celtics haven’t won a championship since 2008.
Led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics are the favorites in the series after finishing with the best record in the NBA. Despite cruising through the regular season and the playoffs, there always seems to be some doubt with this Celtics team. One of those doubts appears to be their toughness.
Veteran NBA guard Patrick Beverley, who played with the Milwaukee Bucks this season, addressed the issue of Boston’s toughness during a radio appearance on the “Felger & Mazz” show leading up to the Game 1 showdown with the Mavs.
Patrick Beverley Said He Won’t Call the Celtics Soft
Beverley is known for his fiery play. A defensive menace, he’s sometimes referred to as an agitator. He’s comparable to Marcus Smart, the tenacious guard who left Boston after nine seasons. Smart was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in a three-team deal that brough center Kristaps Porzingis to Boston.
Smart was gritty. He was tough. Some believe when Smart left town, so did Boston’s toughness.
That was brought up during Beverley’s radio interview. He was flat-out asked if he thought the Celtics had a reputation for being “soft.”
“Not soft,” Beverley said. “Soft is a soft-ass word, so I’m not going to use soft. Do people kind of look at them and be like they haven’t been challenged this year? Yes. That comes with everything. You still can’t take anything away from them.
“Have they beaten some banged-up teams? Yes. Is it their fault? No. Have they been the most dominant team in the NBA? Yes. You can’t use soft because of their domination throughout the season and postseason.”
Beverley Believes Luka Doncic and Jaylen Brown are the Hottest Players in the Series
Tatum and Brown have both been named All-NBA in their careers and have played together for seven years but haven’t been able to win a championship. They got to the NBA Finals in 2022, but they fell to the Golden State Warriors after both Tatum and Brown struggled in the series.
Tatum and Brown are one of the best tandems in the NBA. So is Dallas’ duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
Beverley was asked who he thought was the best player in the series. He danced around the question, saying his idea of the best player are the scrappy guys, like Derrick Jones, Dereck Lively, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White, who get things done without scoring 25 to 30 points.
“But if I have to take one (from each team), I’ll take Luka Doncic, and I’ll take Jaylen Brown,” he said.
“You think Jaylen Brown is better than Jayson Tatum?” host Mike Felger asked Beverley.
“Right now,” Beverley said. “I don’t think he’s better than him. He was just the Eastern Conference MVP, so you have to give it to him.”
When asked to give his prediction for the series, Beverley shifted quickly and said he’ll continue to do so.
“I like Dallas, but I like Jrue Holiday a lot,” he said. “I like Jrue Holiday a lot. Mind you, when I give you this answer, my answer changes every day. Today, it’s Boston. Tomorrow, it might be Boston. The next day it might be Dallas, but right now at this moment, it’s Boston.”