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After the Boston Celtics’ star duo made history October 18 in their season-opening win against the Philadelphia 76ers, a Celtics legend ranked Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum as the top tandem in the league, predicting they would make another run at an NBA title.
“NBA Best Duo Tatum and Brown hands down,” tweeted Paul Pierce after Boston’s 126-117 win.
Brown and Tatum scored 35 points each, making them only the third duo in NBA history to score at least that many in a season opener. According to Basketball Reference’s Justin Kubatko, they joined Oscar Robertson and Jack Twyman, who did it 1961 for the Cincinnati Royals, and Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain, who did it in 1969 for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Besides ranking them as the top duo, Pierce also said that with the right mindset, Brown and Tatum’s first trip to the finals together wouldn’t be their last. Already, they’ve been to three Eastern Conference finals in six seasons together.
“I think it’s important for them to understand what they went through,” Pierce said in a postgame appearance on NBC Sports Boston. “To realize that and feed off of that and think, ‘Look, we were so close’ — and play with a chip on [their] shoulder every night because it’s never a guarantee that [they’ll] get back there. They’re young. They’re talented. If they can stay healthy and have the right mindset, and understand what it took for them to get there, they’ll get there again.”
Pierce Invokes Doc Rivers
Pierce, a four-time All-NBA star who played for the Celtics from 1998 to 2013, said he believed strongly that Tatum, 24, and Brown, who turns 26 on October 24, could go far if they maintain the right approach.
“Like Doc used to always say, don’t get bored with the process because there is a process to get back to that place. If [Tatum and Brown] understand that, they will be there,” Pierce said, referring to Doc Rivers, who coached him from 2004 to 2013 and again from 2015 to 2017 on the Los Angeles Clippers.
Pierce Praises Bill Russell
Pierce gave his thoughts about the late Celtics legend Bill Russell, whom the team celebrated on the first opening night following his death on July 31. Pierce did hold back praising Russell for his impact both on and off the basketball court.
“For the Boston Celtics, he was a pioneer, engineer,” Pierce said. “He was everything. He laid the foundation to what the Celtics are as an organization today in history as one of the all-time great franchises. As an activist off the court, you have to understand how difficult it was for him during those times. Not only to thrive in basketball but handling himself the way he did to set the path for future minorities and blacks in the NBA.”
Pierce also reminisced on what it was like to interact with Russell face to face.
“He always kept my spirits high. You know, with that infectious laugh that he had every time he’d come in, give you the middle finger and start laughing,” Pierce said. “There were times when I had one-on-one dinner with him, and he just always kept me positive and always taught me to hang in there and keep doing the things that I was doing and eventually had turned around.”
