It feels like it's been summer for a long time, but autumn has finally arrived in New England and basketball season is soon to follow. The Boston Celtics are about to start training camp and, if you ask them, everything's as cool as the upcoming weather. Now, they would say that, as the weeks leading up to the preseason, which culminated with today's Media Day festivities, basically amount to an opportunity for NBA teams to advertise the upcoming season. For this year's Media Day, what the Celtics were selling was optimism.
Granted, the Celtics are in a better position to convince their fans that the next nine months are going to go swimmingly than the majority of the other teams in the league. They're coming into the season as the Eastern Conference favorites and, if the Celtics' starting lineup remains healthy, some experts even have them pegged as the second most talented team in the league. Still, this is New England, where high expectations are often paired with deep-rooted pessimism. There have been lingering concerns about this team throughout the offseason and it's in the team's best interest to assuage their fans' biggest fears before they start trying to sell them tickets and merchandise (oh and Gatorade).
The spin began earlier this month when the team addressed last season's biggest disappointment. Gordon Hayward, only months removed from signing a four-year, $128 million contract, suffered a season-ending ankle injury in his Celtics debut. While Boston had remarkable success without him, there's no question that any chance that the Celtics have as far as making a championship run this year lies with having a healthy and effective Hayward.
So there Hayward was, addressing the media for the first time in ages, assuring everybody that he would be ready for the start of the regular season, although he's still working his way to being 100%. "The last step for me as far from a physical standpoint is a little explosion," he said during the September 13th press conference, "that little last juice bounce that you get. So that's going to take me the longest time, but like I said, for the most part, I feel very good."
Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving, who also says he's heading for a full recovery following season-ending surgery, is trying to convince everybody that, despite rumors to the contrary, he's not heading anywhere. In an interview with ESPN's Jackie MacMullan, Irving pulled out all the stops in emphasizing that he sees himself in Boston for the foreseeable future. "Who wouldn't be a part of this?" he proclaimed while confidently saying that the Celtics could beat the Golden State Warriors in a seven-game series. As far as those ever-present rumors that he wants to team up with Jimmy Butler, who is currently working his way out of Minnesota? Why, Irving says he hasn't talked with Butler since 2016.
Nothing, of course, compares to the feel-good vibes of Media Day, the Monday before training camps officially open across the NBA. Is Jayson Tatum, coming off a phenomenal rookie season, going to be happy with fewer minutes after his breakout last season? "We have a lot of coachable guys on this team that are willing to do whatever it takes to win," he said while also repeating the line that the team can hold their own against the Warriors.
Jaylen Brown might end up coming off the bench this season, despite a playoff campaign that proved he would be a starter on most teams. He didn't think the team's crowded roster would affect team chemistry either, adding "we don't see each other as enemies. We don't want to beat each other up too much. We're trying to beat up whoever else we're going to be competing against."
Some of this preseason optimism is just for show, an attempt at putting the best face possible heading into a year where the expectations could not be higher. That doesn't mean that the players don't also feel it. After an off-season where management went all-in with the previous season's roster, why wouldn't everybody involved feel good about their chances? When Irving and Tatum say that they have a chance at beat the Warriors in the NBA Finals, they believe it. They're not just trying to put up a front to convince the media and, thus, their fans (although they might also be doing just that).
The Celtics were a very good team last season. They should be an even better one this time around. There will be plenty of time for worry and doubt during the grind of the regular season as they face the inevitable challenges that the 82 game schedule will throw at them. This? This is a time to be cheerful. Basketball is back in New England, in every possible way.
