It is extremely difficult to repeat as an NBA Champion, as the Boston Celtics found out this year. Despite being the favorite all year long, the Celtics were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs which means only Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors, Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James’ Miami Heat have successfully defended their titles this century.
Throughout different points of the season, the Celtics seemed to be coasting along and that is often a regular occurrence for teams looking to repeat. The regular season doesn’t mean as much and it is most important to peak at the playoffs, which can lead to lulls throughout the year. And LeBron believes that was the case with Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the rest of the Celtics.
On the latest episode of the “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash, James spoke on his belief that the Celtics got bored at times this season both individually in regards to Tatum and Brown, and as a team:
“It seems like they get bored sometimes with the—I don’t want to say the process, because they are who they are. When you look at Tatum and [Jaylen] Brown, this is years and years and years and years, they punched their 10,000 hours, you know? But sometimes it seems like they get a little bored because of how great they are. Not only those two as individuals but them as a team, sometimes it looks like they get bored.”
Those lapses during the season are pretty standard for a team like the Celtics who has made multiple appearances in the Conference Finals and NBA Finals over the past few seasons. That alone isn’t the reason why they were eliminated of course, as the tragic injury to Tatum basically sealed their fate, but it just shows that it takes a lot to win just one championship, let alone go back-to-back.
Injury luck, peaking at the right time, matchups in the playoffs, and many other things all matter when it comes to raising the Larry O’Brien Trophy at the end of the season. This year, neither James’ Lakers nor Tatum’s Celtics will be doing so, but at some point these two franchise will meet again as the rivalry between Boston and L.A. will never die.
Lakers involved in crazy Western Conference stat
The Minnesota Timberwolves, who eliminated LeBron James and the Lakers are currently in the Western Conference Finals facing off with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Not only is this a first time matchup in the Conference Finals, but it also unveiled a crazy stat.
This will be the first Western Conference Finals since 1996 that will be played outside of Texas or California. In other words, the Lakers, Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets or Los Angeles Clippers have been in the Conference Finals every season for the last 30 years.
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