The Boston Celtics are about to embark on a very difficult journey: The pursuit of defending an NBA championship.
The Celtics became the sixth different champion in the last six years when they beat the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the 2024 NBA Finals. The previous five champions all failed to repeat the following year. In fact, all five of them didn't even advance past the second round.
The Celtics will try to end those streaks and become the first back-to-back title winner since the Golden State Warriors in 2016-17 and 2017-18.
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The only player on the roster who knows what defending a title feels like is Jrue Holiday. The veteran point guard won a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021 and was on the team the following season.
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What stood out to Holiday about that season, and what kind of challenges did Milwaukee face?
"I think what stood out is we lost to Boston," Holiday told reporters Tuesday at his Celtics Media Day press conference. "That was the team that stopped us, and now I won one with them, so maybe it's come full circle. Maybe this time it's gonna be a little bit different.
“The challenges are people see us at the top of the mountain now. I think last year they kinda saw that, too. We've heard good and bad. Honestly, I think it's going to be the same thing. People are going to say that we suck and other people will think we're really good. At the end of the day, I think we have to keep our circle tight and fight together and try to win our last game like we did last season.”
Jrue Holiday talks differences in being a defending champ in Boston vs. Milwaukee pic.twitter.com/cfG7QmVLl5
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) September 24, 2024
The Bucks, as Holiday noted, had their title defense ended by the Celtics, who eliminated the Bucks in Game 7 of the 2022 Eastern Conference semifinals at TD Garden. Holiday doesn't seem worried about Boston's ability to block out distractions and remain focused on getting back to the NBA Finals.
"I think we just played our game (as defending champs in Milwaukee), and I feel like that's what we're gonna do this year," Holiday said. "Sometimes it's easy to focus on what other people want or what they think and all that, but for the most part we're gonna focus on the ideas and the goals that we have. It is kinda easy to hear the noise from the outside.
"Like I said, I think we've proven ourselves as a group that we keep everything internal, and if we need anything, we can take care of it in that way. I feel like we're all pretty good at what we do and really excited to get the season started."
The Celtics' title defense begins Oct. 22 against the New York Knicks. They will raise their 2024 NBA champions banner to the TD Garden rafters before the game.
Follow NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Celtics Media Day throughout Tuesday in the video player below: