The Horford Celtics Failed.
The 2021 Celtics are off to an up and down start. Does this have anything to do with it being the 1st season that Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are the defined #1 and #2 options? I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the multiple transitions of this Celtics team and how to define them.
In the Brad Stevens Era we have had the Isiah Thomas Celtics. Over achieving, scrappy, ultimately flawed group of players who maxed out in the ECF getting smoked by Lebron. The “Bridgies” Hated and loved by all Bostonians alike. Rooting for The King of the 4th in his final season was awesome. The performance he had after his sister died with a bum hip is up there in gutsiest ever. But, ya I’d take a bag of smashed assholes over Jae Crowder.
Next up was the “High Society” Celtics. Al Horford agrees to sign as a Free Agent in 2016. The 1st big free agent signing basically in Celtics history. In 2017 Kyrie makes his way to Boston with Gordon Hayward in toe as the next high profile Free Agent signing. On a lesser note Kemba replaces Kyrie in 2019 as the 4th High profile player to join the Celtics. All while this is going on, Danny gets to use his Lottery picks from the Nets and very quickly you have two of the best young wings in the NBA immediately making an impact on one of the best teams in the East.
By all accounts this was a perfect situation for Danny and the Celtics. You have 3 Veteran All-Stars with ambitions to compete for a championship. Supplemented by the Jays growing up under their wing ready to take over as the next generation. Not to mention a handful more draft picks in hand and a combination of supporting roles both young and veterans. (Rozier and Marcus Morris come to mind.)
Problem. They failed. They never won. They very publicly crash and burned in magnificent fashion at times. There are certainly a number of reasons we could start to get into here and all of them have been dissected relentlessly. If you were asking me, which you’re not, but if you were, public enemy #1 is Kyrie Irving. That freaking Thanksgiving hating, flat earthing, all seeing eye, turd. That is in addition to Glass Gordon’s injuries, the young kids acting like punks, Brad Stevens ineptitude, Danny’s sudden lack of balls, and an unbelievably frustrating lack of finish. Where ever you want to place the blame, they never accomplished what they set out to do.
Which bring me to my point. That should all be behind us. It gets fuzzy because of some cross over. Yes, they Jays and Smart even Kemba were on those teams, Horford played a year with Isaiah. I get it, but this is not that same group. This is now officially Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown's team. So to me that means the expectations need to shift. This is good news. The bad news is behind us. The bad news is, The Al Horford Celtics underachieved. Fucking shocking, I know. The good news is the Celtics are basically starting over with All NBA Caliber players. Not many teams can say that. When most teams fall short and lose their best players they fall to the dregs of the league not to be heard from for a decade. The Celtics are still in contention for the Finals. I just think we need to be ready for the bumps in the road that come with a team lead by two men in their early 20’s. That’s not to say that we will not bury them if they under achieve and bow out like Kyrie in the 2nd round. Just expect some bumps. We are waiting for the light bulb to flash for these two.
If you think about it, the past 7 seasons the Celtics basically treaded water until it was time to hand over the keys. They just were able to tread like a genetically mutated dolphin instead of an over weight Dad like most teams.
