The Boston Celtics have earned the respect of the basketball world after winning the 2024 NBA Finals over the Dallas Mavericks and claiming their 18th championship.
Even some of their toughest competitors are giving them credit for winning, including Golden State Warriors center Draymond Green.
Green and the Warriors defeated the Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals, winning the clinching Game 6 in Boston. It was an experience that fueled the Celtics' motivation to get better and finish the job.
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Green went on his podcast -- the Draymond Green Show -- earlier this week and praised the Celtics for their relentless pursuit of an 18th title.
"For a franchise in the NBA to publicize how much theyâre going after Banner 18 is crazy,â Green said. âThatâs not standard practice in the NBA. Itâs just not. They actually did it. I have nothing but respect for that. A lot of people will tell you if youâve got a goal, donât tell nobody because theyâll try to tear it down.
âThey kept telling us (their) goal, âWeâve got to get Banner 18, 18, 18,â and they actually went and did it. If you canât respect that -- I can respect that -- so if you canât respect that, Iâm sorry but I canât respect you. Because that is the definition of standing on what you speak on. Standing on business, however you want to break it down. That is it."
Not only did the Celtics win the title, they did so in dominant fashion, earning a 16-3 record in the postseason and finishing with an incredible 80-21 record overall (regular season and playoffs combined).
The challenge for the Celtics will be to keep that motivation and hunger going into next season as they start their title defense. The last time a team repeated as champions was Green's Warriors in 2017 and 2018. But with the Celtics expected to go into next season with largely the same roster, they should have a pretty good chance to defend their championship.