The architect of the Celtics' 18th title is him! Former Celtics coach, Brad Stevens trained Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and when he took over from Danny Ainge as president, it was again he who went after Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, and who of course appointed Joe Mazzulla. Stevens is the Red Auerbach of his era in Boston, and amid champagne and confetti, he defended Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
“I think the critics are stupid, and so I don’t care”, he said. “I agree with Jaylen on this. These two have accomplished more than most 25 and 26 year olds, and the only reason they were criticized was because they were still playing in May and June. As a good friend of mine said, I'd rather be in the game and have my guts ripped out than suck. And these two have been very good for a long time. »
In seven years, the Brown-Tatum duo has reached at least the conference finals five times
Tatum and Brown suffered the same criticism as LeBron James when he took the Cavaliers far into the playoffs or to the finals, without winning. At a press conference, Brown also spoke about media criticism.
“With Jayson, we've been through a lot. We have been playing together for seven years now. We have experienced a lot, defeats and expectations. The media said all kinds of things: that we couldn't play together, that we would never win… We heard it all. But we just shrugged it off and pushed on. »
Since playing together, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have played seven playoff campaigns together. Their record: an NBA title, a lost NBA final, three conference finals.
