BOSTON — The crowd could feel it. And, more importantly, the Celtics could feel it, too. As the Celtics dominated the Mavericks on Monday, there was no denying their spot in history.
Reality finally set in: The Boston Celtics are NBA champions. All those years of heartbreak, not-good-enough and failure vanished over the course of the night. All that remained after the buzzer was a sea of humanity spilling onto the legendary parquet as the Celtics and their fans celebrated immortality.
The trophy presentation was just the start of the night. The players, coaches, support staff, front office members, ownership and anyone else involved in the operation were ready for this moment. The franchise obsessed over Banner 18, doing anything and everything in its power to get back to the mountaintop.
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Well, the Celtics are back — and they did it in historic fashion. They dominated the regular season as the best team in the NBA with a 64-18 record. Then the C’s ran through the playoffs with a 16-3 mark. This team set new franchise records, and considering Boston’s lofty standards, the 2023-24 Celtics will be remembered fondly as a special group.
Here are some of the sights and sounds from the Celtics’ postgame celebration:
- Naturally, when Jayson Tatum appeared at the locker room party, just about everyone there wanted a piece of him. He took photos, saw close friends and also mingled with NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown. Plenty of people also wanted to douse him with champagne, though Tatum didn’t seem too pleased by that. But he was all smiles during it all.
- After a stellar past two playoff series, Brown will be remembered fondly for bringing the Celtics their 18th championship. He posed with C’s co-owner Wyc Grousbeck with the Finals MVP trophy; Grousbeck reminded him that, just like the 2008 team, he’s been enshrined in Celtics lore. When Brown was in the locker room, plenty of people rained down MVP chants on him, as well.
- There was no way the Celtics contingent was going to call it an early night. The locker room party continued deep into the night. By the time the media portion was closed at 1:40 a.m., the festivities weren’t close to wrapping up as music blared from the speakers. The alcohol flowed and the victory cigars also mixed into an interesting scent inside the locker room.
- C’s assistant coach Sam Cassell, who was on the 2008 team as a player, got to be etched into Boston history in a unique way. He also FaceTimed Celtics legend Paul Pierce from the locker room. Svi Mykhailiuk was more than happy to yell some happy words at Pierce after taking the phone.
- Before games, the whiteboard in the Celtics locker room usually has important information like shooting times. It was the same thing postgame: This time, there was a reminder that the C’s have a flight to Miami scheduled for noon Tuesday. So the team will get in some partying before the parade, which is expected to be Friday in Boston.
- As the Celtics came off the court, there were some old friends waiting for them in the hallway leading to the locker room. Grant Williams and Tacko Fall were back there, congratulating some former teammates on the championship.
- There was some variety in the drink selection for the players. There were three huge tubs full of ice and drinks in the middle of the locker room. Those tubs had it all, whether it was different types of beer, champagne and some seltzers.
- Getting sprayed by champagne was inevitable if you were in the locker room long enough. There were plenty of people spraying it everywhere during the massive gathering. The room, naturally, smelled a lot like champagne and alcohol from the mingling.
