The 2018-19 Boston Celtics were a stacked team on paper, but instead became an object lesson on why the games need to be played before one can truly anoint a ball club as elite.
For one thing, fit matters. So does health and chemistry. Even personal goals of the individual players comprising the team, and in the case of a Celtics squad led by Gordon Hayward, Kyrie Irving, and Al Horford with two up-and-coming wings in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, quite a bit of the factors needed for a successful season did not align, as Hayward himself admitted on a recent episode of Paul George’s “Podcast P” show.
“In my eyes, it was just, we all had too many agendas, and the agenda to win the whole thing was not the main one,” said Hayward via Heavy’s Matt John.
Celtics Lab 234: Why Boston is probably not making big moves at the deadline with Yossi Gozlan https://t.co/9NpXe6Z7Wn pic.twitter.com/UWS6iJ9Hct
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 2, 2024
“Not to blame anyone either because I think it was all human nature,” he quickly qualified.
“I mean, I’m coming back from, the last season I played, I was an All-Star, so I’m trying to prove that I’m still an All-Star. Kyrie was hurt the year before, didn’t miss the playoffs. So he’s trying to prove this is still his team. Then you’ve got (Jayson Tatum) and Jaylen (Brown) and Terry (Rozier) coming off where they’re all starting, make it to the Eastern Conference Finals a year before.”
“They’re all trying to prove, like, ‘We’ve arrived,'” added the Butler alum.
Seven Boston Celtics make HoopsHype's 20 greatest centers list https://t.co/Y2BBNM2fTx pic.twitter.com/29hienMol0
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 1, 2024
“The other problem is there were too many of us in the exact same position,” explained Hayward. “We all needed the ball, we all rocked with the ball, we all needed the ball.”
The end result? A team far worse in terms of the product put on the court than the individual talents would indicate.
And one very disappointed fan base trying to figure out how it all went sideways.
Every player in Boston Celtics history who wore No. 15 https://t.co/2DfhvhkgFx pic.twitter.com/AYkGBljNwe
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) January 2, 2024
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