Celtics’ First-Half Season Rewind

gonna be a little bit different. We're not necessarily diving into the typical storylines that we have in past episodes, but we are diving deep into something, and that is the first half of the NBA season. We're gonna do

a season rewind. It's myself, Sean Granny, and Abbey Chin and we're gonna be sitting right here in the Celtics front office in downtown Boston reliving all of the top moments from the first half of the season, a little bit of all Star talk and a little bit of talk about what's to happen the rest of the season as the Celtics pursue yet another NBA championship. So we've got that coming your way. We also want to remind

you to rate, subscribe, and review. That's very important to us, so please do that, and without further ado, we'll let you jump in right into the conversation. It's myself, Sean and Abby rewinding through the first half of the Celtics season. All right, we are here at Celtics headquarters at one hundred Causeways Streets. Sean, Grandy, Abby Chin back for another episode of You from the Rafters behind the scenes with

the Boston Celtics and guys. We're recording this during All Stars, so we want everyone out there to know we do have a few games to be played before this airs, but there is a lot to talk about from the season and a lot of good things that we need to talk about for this season. Sean, what has stood out to you the most about the first What do we got fifty nine games that have been played at this point, forty two and seventeen tops in the league.

Can I say, for all the awesome guests that we have that it's finally nice to just kick back and be us here and we don't have to worry about being overly polite to somebody and welcoming somebody in that we can just finally stretch our legs out and talk about this season, and hey, three seasons in and we get to use all of the time to ourselves, which I know is in term of the right now, which is not ideal, but I think when we and the All Star break is useful for the thirty thousand foot

view right because we never get it day to day. You're just out of the next game and out of the next flight and out of the next city. The amazing thing to me is that if you had said in the middle of August that the Celtics would have the best record in the league by a half game at Jason Tatum would be having this amazing year, that the Celtics would be there were the title favorites in the middle of August, and they are where they are.

None of this would be a surprise. But then you factor in the three back to back body shots that the Celtics took, Gallinari gone, Rob Williams lost for the third of the year, and then the unthinkable, essentially on the eve of training camp, a coaching change that nobody could possibly have imagined happens, and yet the Celtics have performed as if none of those three things have happened, and that may be the most amazing thing sixty games in.

And it's not even just that stuff, Abby. I mean, we've gone and everyone loved the stat when I centered out, But when the Celtics come back from All Star and you know, God forbid, at this point, they're going to be fully healthy, They're going to have all their guys. But heading into All Star, they've only had one game this season where all five of their starters started the opening tip, which is insane. That they lead the league,

yet they've had to navigate all of these injuries. Derek White to start a fifty one to fifty nine games and he's supposed to be a reserve. It's incredible. And that even accounts for the amount of minutes that Jason Tatum is playing. He has been phenomenal this season. We

all know an MVP caliber season. But I think what stands out to me and Sean you kind of prefaced it is that these guys have come back on a mission that Emay News could have shaken this group to its core, but they instead came together and it's something that Brad Stevens pointed out in his press conference talking about making Joe Missoula the head coach, taking away the interim tag is that he has been able to bring

this group together. They have their eye on one goal and everyone is working towards that, willing to sacrifice do

whatever it takes to get to that one goal. And the message has remained the same from the beginning of training camp when there was that dark cloud over everything that was happening too now in the All Star Game and then coming back from the break, and so to me, that's what has stood out is that these guys have been unwavering in that mission to get back to the NBA Finals and overcome great teams, elite teams imposed their will.

That's the history of the league. And this is a team that was what twenty eight and seven to finish last year with a plus fifteen scoring differential. And I've been saying absolutely absurd, dominant run and obviously going to the finals, and yet in O eight the team wins the championship. And everybody told them all summer there's gonna be a letdown, You're gonna fall back, you can't have

the dominant season you have and what happened. They started twenty seven and two with a nineteen game win streak. They imposed their will, and there was an element of that. This team wasn't as dominant. This team hasn't been as dominant as last year's team was in the second half of the year, but there was an element of running off to the start they did, sort of running away

from the league in the historic offensive start. That reminded me of that, and that just when everybody said, everybody, the experts, quote unquote, the NBA world history, everything we know, says there's going to be a fallback, and instead it went in the other direction. It reminded me of the title defense season and the first thirty games of eight o nine. That surprised you though, sure of course it did, because nobody knew what to expect. Listen, you guys are there, Listen, Abby,

you were in the building the first preseason game. That was a strange, odd day. It was heavy in the building. It felt weird. Media Day it was weird, of course, Media Day was it fare right, it was, I mean, it was going to have the building where we're sitting. It was weird. But what made that especially is that there were nineteen thousand people. Because in Boston preseason games

sell out too. There were nineteen thousand people all participating in the weirdness of this strange vibe of what's happening here. And Max and I came on and we did our our ten minute little thing on what had happened, and we wanted to put it in a place because we didn't want to just you can't just start the broadcast. Here's the first game of the year, and up coach Joe Massoula calls time out. I'm sorry, what who so you had to and wait time out? That didn't happen.

The Celtics, by the way, had like the best offensive rating out of timeouts. People don't acknowledge that. Right. Well, now he has to call more now because he had the best offensive rating out of timeouts. I think that I'll always remember that day when you when you go to your office where you've been well, I guess they told us about two thousand times at Max and I

haven't done it. When you go to your office two thousand times and then the one thousand, nine hundred and eighty first time you go, it feels completely different than the one nine hundred and eighty that came before. You're going to remember that day, and here we are. Everyone just played through it. Everyone just did their jobs, and pretty soon it was back to work and everybody was focused on what it is they had to do. And two months later you look up and you're twenty one

and five with the best offense in the history of ever. Yeah, and that's what's been so remarkable about it to me. And this is we're on the outside, We're not inside that locker room. And I think that that was something really important for Joe to do from the beginning, was to allow those guys to feel the pain of I mean, basically losing someone who they were very close to an emay and not that he is gone gone, but he is not an everyday fixture in their life. But it

does feel like nothing has changed. I mean, not that much is different. The Celtics went and practiced and followed the practice planned that they were going to practice from day one anyway, And I know the players have felt a little bit more emotional and have been vocal about that. But for us on the outside, what I'm trying to say is it just feels like the ship keeps rolling.

There's nothing it doesn't feel that different after that first preseason game, once everything was addressed, it was handled after the press conferences were done, but moved on and it's been all about basketball ever since. The three things I mentioned he made, the Gallanri injury, the Rob Williams injury.

None of those three things erased the sound that Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown and everybody heard across the hall in the locker room after Game six of the Finals when another team, only the second team ever to do it, the Lakers in eighty five and Golden State last year, the only team's ever to win the championship in Boston, and that sound of them celebrating across the hall was a louder noise and something that reverberated more in the heads of the guys in the room heard it than

the three things I talked about that people thought would alter their season. That is what is driving their season, not those three things. And on top of that, you hear the sounds, but you also see the visuals because I know you two both remember where the press room is right that the Celtics have to talk in after every single game, including Game six of the NBA Finals,

in that back hallway. All of the Warriors players with their goggles on, with their champagne and hands are passing through right by the Celtics media area to go to their after party, which was in Big Night Live, which is attached to TD Gardens. So the Celtics players in the moments after losing the finals had to watch these guys walk back. I know I felt it when these guys are wearing their goggles. I remember Jordan Pool walking by and I'm like, oh my god, why can't we

be wearing these goggles? But I know they had. Don't forget this too. Jannis and the Bucks all heard the Celtics celebrating in that same hallway after Game seven two, and I'm sure they're going to take that with them from the meeting. We know, I mean, we know it's it's destined to happen. Yeah, I will say, Miami, the locker rooms very separate, I don't think. Right we go to hum so you mentioned and you mentioned the kind of turnaround there from the Friday where we all find

out the head coach has suspended. Joe Missoula is coming in as the interim coach. And this is the friday before training camp in the moment. I remember going out to the HOURBIC Center, sitting down. I actually got a few moments to talk with Joe that day before his press conference, And in my mind, I mean, here's a team that's pursuing a championship, coming off of Game six of the Finals. The expectations are so high, and in my mind, I'm just wondering, is this going to derail everything?

Because you only had forty eight hours I guess seventy two hours before training camp started. I just didn't know how a team would be able to recover from that. But in hindsight, when I look back, part of me thinks that actually might have been a good thing, that it was a short amount of time that they had to turn around, because it forced everyone to mentally dial in and like not allow it to derail them. I don't know, if you guys roll the pool yeah and

swim yeah, to compartmentalize too. I think NBA players have a unique ability to be able to compartmentalize what is important in that moment, and to live in that moment, and to be able to perform on the stage in that moment. And so I think that you're right, that's a good point that they didn't have time to dwell on it. They didn't have time to think about what is going to be different, what is going to change,

what's the life going to be like now? And to the lament, the moment right like the loss of email. Like all these guys were close. They didn't have time to be sad or upset or mad or any of that. They had to turn the page a job to do.

But like you said, those first conversations with Joe as the head coach to me and I had covered Joe in the summer league that he coached two seasons prior, and so we were like I knew him, We were closely, not that close though, and I didn't know what to expect on that first media day, but he was there when from my first conversation with him, he was so confident, So he didn't He doesn't feel pressure. It doesn't feel like he feels pressure in the way that I feel pressure.

That it makes me nervous and I get edgy and I get very anty. Are you nervous right now? No? No? Are you sure? I don't think so. Although this is the first time I've done this, so yeah, getting used to it. Um don't like that knock over. Don't knock that mic over either. He was nervous. Yeah, I'm stumbling over my words. He was so confident and in control and knew exactly what he wanted to say and who he wanted to be, And that gave me so much

confidence in him. After my first conversation with him at media day, I said, Oh, it's gonna be fine. The remarkable thing about it was how quickly he did it with This is what I would say to people from the outside when they would say, one on Earth is going on? Who's Joe Missoula? Is that Maybe Joe Missoula was destined to be the next Eric Spolsure. Maybe he was destined in a couple of years to get First of all, he was a finalist. Will got the job

in Utah with Danny, but Joe was right there. Joe was right there in the conversation to get that job. So maybe Joe was going to be a coach somewhere else and he was gonna be the next big thing. But because it happened this way, all of a sudden, this is gonna be Who's Joe Massoula? And all of a sudden He's promoted to this job. Maybe in a year or two. He was going to be an NBA head coach somewhere anyway. But the remarkable thing is that knowing Joe and listen, we've all known Brad for years,

and Joe and Brad have I don't. I don't like to use the word mindset because Joe's used it enough for everybody. It's like you're Joe massoula Bingo card, right, is like mindset and spacing and all the you know all the above to get your full Joe Bingo card. He these guys are all based A lot of us are on preparation and how we go about and how

could he possibly have been prepared? When you're an NBA head coach, you're thinking about your team on May sixteenth, You're thinking about your team on July eighth, You're thinking about your team on August first, and how you're going to come. And this is the most remarkable thing about

it was that offseason of preparation. It goes into being a head coach, or the managing a baseball team or being an NFL head coach is a year round, twenty four seven job, and to have to coach your first game essentially hours after becoming the head coach, and then just going from there. That is, to me, the most remarkable and overlooked part of it was that he did not have the ramp up that this didn't happen in June,

that had happened a couple of days before camp. It's a great point because I think the first preseason game was like two days after camp. I mean, it was right away so abby. We rewind to that Friday, and the thing that stood out to me is I didn't know what was going to happen with with Joe. I didn't know how he was going to react to this situation. Then you get to Monday, it's media day. At that point, there's still so many questions that I'm wondering in my head.

I know everyone else's. But then that first day of training camp, when he stood in front of all of the media and I know you were there, that's when I knew this guy has got what it takes, because he just didn't seem flustered now at all. I mean, that's the first day running an NBA team, and obviously he had the history of coach in the summer league team, but it's a different animal when you're actually running the real team, and he just there were no nerves. He

answered every question perfectly. And to go through that media day days after this whole situation unraveled, and then to come to day one of training camp and not say a single word that he shouldn't have said. That's when I knew. I'm like, Okay, this guy's ready for this because I can't comprehend how he did that. He may regret talking about that he's still driving his minivan, which he is still driving, but that will be used against him. I think for a while, the Royal family, it is.

He wasn't a unique position though as well. Let's not get in trouble here, okay about because he had those pre existing relationships, I'm not sure. I think everyone kind of everyone on the outside said who is Joe Missoula,

But the players knew who Joe Massoula is. My favorite story from last season was Derek White when he arrived in that trade and his mind was just all over the place because he'd never been traded before in his life, and then after coming from San Antonio, where he'd known one thing the whole time of his NBA career, they sent him to Joe Missoula to learn the offense and

to get a handle on things. And so these pre existing relationships I think enabled Joe to be the coach that he is and to garner their respect in the locker room that he's been able to and and like we have been talking about getting everyone on the same page and going towards the same mission of being an NBA player, is the work you put in that nobody sees. Joe Massoula had lived with these guys for that ninety

nine percent you mentioned Derek White. Can we segue right into that, because Derek White has been the savior in my opinion of this team the season. I mean, obviously, Jason playing at an an MVP level, He's going to be the first player in Celtics history to ever average thirty or more points in a season, and it's gonna happen. It's gonna happen, no doubt in my mind. But Derek White is the guy. Without Derek White, there's no chance

that the Celtics are where they are, no chance. Fifty one starts out of the first fifty nine games, and he has been awesome, shooting basically thirty nine percent from three doing everything the Celtics need on a nightly basis in a multitude of ways, depending on who's missing, right, Like, that's who has stood out to me in terms of being able to keep this team on track. Shoon plays every game in the load management era. He's played every game since he was here, you know, every regular season

game since he's been traded here he has played. And I think in the load management era, the teams that are going to have success are the teams that have depth, that are gonna plug in different guys that you know you You started by saying, isn't this amazing that the Celtics have done this with the starting five only playing one game together. It's not that unusual anymore. That's the

way it is in the NBA. But the Celtics have the best record in the league because they are they have the depth, and they are equipped to deal with that. The best teams now aren't going to be the teams that have the two best players in the regular season that there are going to be the teams that are go six, seven, eight deep, that can manage their way through the inevitable injuries, through the inevitable load management. And

I want to disrespect Kyrie by using that term. They you have to manage what the NBA is now, and the Celtics have built a team that, particularly in the backcourt, that has the ability to do that. I think that's what Derek White epitomizes is just how deep this team is. And you ask them, they know, they believe they are

the deepest team in the NBA. And it has shown over that last week going into the All Star break, missing Marcus Smart, Jalen Brown, Rob and al In and out of the lineup, I mean without four or five starters, and the Celtics continue to win, continue to get it done. It's juda guys like Derek White, we haven't mentioned. We will, I'm sure Malcolm Brogden. But also I mean we got to give credit to Brad Stevens for the additions and just I won't do that. By the way, picking can't

you don't like you. It's not just it just pains me too much. It's a it's after nine years, it's physically I just can't. It was just too much. Why he left, that's right, Yeah, we couldn't take it anymore. That's why as the day, the day it all happened, the day he was no longer the head coach whatever. I just texted him, I said, listen, if you want to get out of the pregame thing, there were other ways to do it, just let me know. Yes. But I mean, that was a brilliant move on his part.

And the fact that Derek is such a connector and a guy who can, like you said, give you exactly what you need. If he is playing eight minutes, he goes out and he is give the term balls of the wall. I mean he can say that. I can say that, Um, he plays hard and gives you exactly what you need, whether that's on the defensive end or the offensive end. And he that's so rare. And I've talked about this with scal a lot. The versatility that Derek White has, and it's not just a versatility on

the court playing guarding one through five. It's also the versatility of roles that he can come in off the bench, he can be a starter, and he can give you exactly what you need. Do you win, Mark, You need guys who are have reached a point in the NBA where they now winning is more important than their own individual role. And that was everyone wants to put it

on Kyrie. But the fundamental flaw of the twenty nineteen team that was what it was, was there were too many young players that had not established their place in the NBA, which the league it almost forces you to do it by definition. Can you play in this league? Who are you in this league? What is your role? Derek White has already done that. We didn't see it because it happened in San Antonio. But Derek White got his contract, he established who he was in the NBA.

Now he's here to win. Malcolm Brogden has established who he is in the NBA. Now he wants to win. Blake Griffin is long since established who he is in the NBA. Now he's here and he wants to win. That is how you do it in the league. You can't. This is why teams that are primarily built on young players on that first NBA contract don't have deep playoff success. That's a big, big part of it, and it's what

this team had as in it. Again, you cannot say Derek White without thinking of that characteristic What is this team going to be? When Malcolm Brogden and Derek White are coming off the bench. It just blows my mind that the Celtics aren't going to have these two guys who I think the game before the All Star Break they combine for like fifty one points or something like that. What do you think this team can be with those two guys coming off the bench. It's insanity, what a luxury.

But also if those two guys are coming off the bench, that means that you're starting five is healthy. What's going to happen between now and then? And that's the point of what we're saying is having these different pieces that you can plug in, everybody does the same thing. You're doing it now, we all do the same thing. Wow, imagine when everybody gets here, it's going to be great. That's not how life. What life is. What happens right when you're busy making other plans. So there's you know,

something will happen to Boston or Milwaukee or Philadelphia. As we're sitting here talking now, something is going to happen that we can't will have imagined that we'll alter the course of one of those teams futures this year. The point is that instead of thinking about man, imagine what it'd be like if they were all together? Is knowing that you haven't had them all together, and you still can win anyway. I have to imagine what it's going to be like with them all together. Though, right we're

three quarters of the way through the season. I have to think, cross my fingers everything, knock on wood, kick the wood. I'm hoping that we've gotten all of that stuff out of the way by this point. Right, There's only I wouldn't go that far, but I would say that that is the whole point of all of this, the load management, though being overly cautious with Rob Williams when he feels even a tinge in his ankle. I mean,

he's been the bubble wrap all year. Yes, and keep him there, Keep him there, and let's say Jayson Tatum for some more minutes too while we're at it. I don't know, let's play him flood Marcus Smart take as long as he wants with that ankle. Just get to the playoffs. And I think that that's something that I had never experienced. A run to the Vinyls. It is long. It's two and a half more months of basket, and it's not just basketball. It's the most intense basketball that

you've ever played in your life. And you have to do it and bring it and bring that focus every single night, and so whatever it takes to get there

in any modicum of health. I am all four that that's a great point Abby made, because when people think of the New Big Three era, they think of it as a six years right, twenty seven to twenty thirteen, But really it was seven years because they that team played almost a full season of playoff games with the two runs to the finals and the conference finals in twenty twelve. And as Abby just said, those aren't miles on your car. Those are uphill all terrain vehicle miles

that beat you up. So those add a lot of you know, that adds a lot to it. It's not thirty playoff games, are not thirty regular season games. It's it's essentially another full season. And that's why remember when Al did what he did last year, which was amazing at his age to play all those minutes and go to the finals. Remember he had basically had the year off. You know, Oksey said, Lesten go home. They like locked him out of the practice so he could just take

the year off. So he was fresh going into it, and you're almost the Celtics are trying to do here is short of replicate that with al where a couple of games who've seen playoff al this year, I'll see it against like Milwaukee. But for the most part, the only time you want to see playoff al is when it's time for playoff al. Which makes the fact that this team, again, as we record, this is a top the NBA even more important. That they've been able to

sustain the level of play you mentioned this earlier. They've sustained winning while getting all of these guys rest throughout the season, so that hopefully in the long run, there will be more gas in the tank this time around than there was last year after they were fighting. I mean,

we talk about the playoffs as an uphill battle. How about coming back from that start that they had was a seventeen and twenty eighteen and twenty one whatever it was that they had the whole second half of the season and they had to fight up hill just to

get back to where they wanted to be. And the other thing, I don't know, ab if you with me on this, because I've started I started talking about him in the last telecast before they all start break that one of the things about listen home Court advantage is great,

and you're gonna want it. But there's a second factor here with the number one seed in the East, which is with the trades that Brooklyn made, if you sort of dropped Brooklyn out of the top four, it's starting to look like a three headed monster atop the East. So therefore that number one seed Boston, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, one of those teams is going to avoid the other two

in the second round. And that's where yeah, because sometimes in a best case scenario, you think you're gonna have your starting five all year, you think you're gonna have your microphone for the entire podcast, but you don't. You have to work and you have to work around Aby. How many times is that Mike fallen onto your lap today? That's the third that's my fault. Anologize for that we

were missing one of our mic holders. But no, I mean it's a great point on and I think that the Celtics are I mean, obviously they're top of the league right now, but they're well positioned to snag that top seed, especially if they're able to stay healthy during these final twenty three games. I keep saying it, and whatever happens with you know, with these playoff matchups happens.

I couldn't help but think when the Celtics made the choice and it was the obvious choice to make at the time to sort of punt the game away in Milwaukee and to not play guys in the game before the All Star break, that was the obvious choice to you. Well, that's maybe being kind. It wasn't the obvious choice to me. When that choice was by the staff decided that was

the obvious choice. I could not help but think from a poetry standpoint, from a basketball god standpoint, that the Bucks chose to punt the game away on the final game of the season last year, and it cost them home court advantage in Game seven was in Boston instead of in Milwaukee, which it you know, easily could have been. I will say bad for the Celtics. Well, that's we don't know, but that was again rolland Ice. That's why you and I are sitting here doing podcasts and people

to make decisions, make decisions. We'll see how it all plays out. Um, you mentioned that game when when we were preparing for this and we were all thinking about our favorite moments of the game. You prepared the season slightly, not much interest. But when I'm thinking back throughout the whole season, tons of highs, only a few lows, But it stuck out in my head that that game was

actually my favorite moment of the season. A loss in Milwaukee, I did think part of another one because I felt like, yeah, I don't think good. I mean, if you're throwing Christmas Day, look at the two games against Milwaukee for contrasting reason. Yeah, but you look at that game and it just felt I don't know if if in my fourteen seasons here, fifteen seasons, that I've felt that positive I mean for a loss ever, because it just felt like everyone on

this roster was just more proof. Everyone on this roster is ready at all times. And when you've got that type of depth and you've got that type of mindset, I think that just shows. I mean, it's one of the most important factors that you can take into the playoffs because you're going to run into all sorts of challenges in friction and whatever you want to call it.

The fact that they were able to step in and play at that high level against what many people believe might be the other top challenger in the East, against them basically fully healthy without Bobby Porters, but that that stood out to me, that was my favorite moment of the season. Like I said, I that the feeling in the locker room after that game did not feel like

a loss at all. In talking to guys, and the confidence that that gives guys like Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart to be able to be comfortable in taking those assigned times off, I think is really important. But it also I couldn't I couldn't bring that my favorite point because it was a lost. There are no moral victories. This is Boston. It's all about winning a championship.

And it's also we've seen it with the Celtics, and that there is a letdown when you find out that a team's best players are not playing true and we've seen it with the Celtics, and so to me, there was no question forty piece from Drew Holiday to win that game. Yeah, but the Bucks rolled out there. I mean they were not on top of their game, I would say from the jump. And so when they really buckled down and took it seriously and understood the challenge

that actually laid before them, they got it done. But I do think that that was that was such a fun game. It was cool to see Al back in Milwaukee where he is just incredible. Man, Yes at all times, and yeah, that game was just really fun to be a part of. From the jump, What was your other top moment? I think it was the win over Philadelphia

without every before that. Yeah, I mean, I personally did not give the Celtics a chance in that game, knowing they were going out up against Joel embat and James Harden without Al Horford and and Rob Williams. There's no They're starting without their starting front court, and great Williams went out and then Jalen went out miss the entire second half. To get that win, I think was and you know, the Celtics are already in the head of

the seventy six ers, especially Joe LMBA. We didn't say that, and I said that I did, and Marcus Martin, the head of James Harden, I also said that. Then. To get that win dropping the confetti, I'm just staying quiet over here. To get that win in that fashion, I think was huge, and especially because Philadelphia came in. They were the hottest team in the East at that point. They were rolling, had won nine of their last head, Yeah, eighteen and twenty, and for the Celtics to basically shut

them up was pretty gratifying. I don't think Doc enjoyed that moment. First of all, Mark, you weren't if you

that was the the loss you felt best about. You definitely weren't here in two thousand and seven when we were feeling about losses every single night, because that was the idea of looking at Greg Oden and Kevin Durant feeling good about losses every single night, and there were allot of them to choose from, you know, seven, I think back in the first half of the year, it's really an amalgam of moments where I could see Jason Tatum looking as if he were Neo in the matrix

and everything was. There were moments when he knew, I'm the best player on the floor. I can impact this game. I can do whatever I want, whether you know it'd be against Charlote. There was a game in Detroit early in the year, actually both games in Detroit this year where he just he almost like looked around and said, I'm the best player on the floor. I can do whatever it is I want to do, and it is right, and it is you know when you see that this was a kid who came in at that you know,

nineteen years old, and you and I'm still nineteen. You and I just marketed the podcast looking back at the Philadelphia series. When people get to that the that Jason Tatum, you forget the rookie year that he the difference that he makes on and off the floor, the numbers are insane. Al his rookie year outled the Celtics and plus minus by a small margin. Every other year it's been Tatum

by a large margin. And the moments that he's had this year, we talk about how many times if you used the MVP type of year thing that he's having, But those come in moments when you look at him on the floor and say, there are a lot of moments even you know, doing the telecast and I'm thinking it, Scal says, what are we watching here? And I'm thinking, and I'm going to say it next time he does it, Which is what we're seeing is parts of the highlight tape we're going to be looking at on Jason Tatum

day at the Garden in fifteen years. That's what we're looking at. We're looking at these moments when he realizes that he is one of the best players in the world and that he's dominating. But individually, it was a separate Jason Tatum moment that is mine only because in a year in which, as Abby can attest, it has been an unprecedented year of us multitasking. Abby has done it, has done it. Obviously, I've been doing it. We've been doing him back and forth. You don't, but you sit

here and you oversee all of us. Do you know? I said, Abby and I are jumping back and forth TV one night radio the next night, We're going back and forth. Was a night at a moment I decided to be a cinematographer at the same time I was doing play by play and where I was really lucky we got I wouldn't been able to do this if I have been doing TV, but we got Mike to come down to Charlotte and do those games, which allowed

me to be on radio for those games. And my wife and son were at the Martin Luther King game when Jason Tatum was going for fifty at the end of the game, and my wife and son were sitting eight ten rows in front of me, and so I said, I can do this because I knew that my son was losing his mind where in his Jason Tatum Jersey as this was happening, he knew we got a chance

to see it. So I got my phone out and I was shooting video of the two of them while I was calling, you know, Tatum up the floor, left side going for fifty, because I knew my son was going to have sort of an epic reaction to it. Now I've got the moment on video of my sons seeing it happened, and then you could sort of hear me in the background trying to try to call it

as it happened. So but it was just such pure joy from Jack, you know, oh excited, You know what it's like then, and you know, my son has not had the life that most kids have living behind the curtain. And you know, my favorite story with my son was, I flew back here after Game one last year of the Finals, picked him up, flew him back out to San Francisco for Game two the Red Sox. And all places in all the world, where were the Red Sox

that weekend? They were out there in Oakland. So he goes to the Red Sox game in Oakland on Sunday afternoon. Then he goes to Game two of the NBA Finals in San Francisco. We fly back with the families on the charter, and so the next morning he I literally got him to school on time on Monday morning. And when he gets to school and the other kids said, hey, did you see the game last night? He go, yep, I was there, may or may not have here. Look at my phone. See these photos. No one sent these

to me. But the pure you know what the best part listen, not going down the road to being a parent, but these moments of joy that Celtic fans of all experience this year. To watch them through the eyes of a kid, and my son's eleven. Now, so there's a different Now. He really understands when Jason and Jalen are doing this thing. And when he, you know, felt it was up. Wasn't up lating enough to see the All Star game board. I told him the next morning. You didn't let him stay up. He was not with me

my friend that night. So therefore different rules in different houses. Yeah, we stay up late to see historic sports moments, you know, and this half of the family. But to be able to tell him, oh yeah, by the way your guy set an All Star Game record and was the MVP of the All Star Game and you just see the eyes. This goes back to when I say, this is why

documenting these moments, having the job I have matters. It really brings it home when you see your son when you're hand in the box score from the playoff game the night before with at five years old, when his favorite player, Isaiah Thomas, and he looks at the box score and goes across to the column and sees fifty something point and his eyes, just a little five year

old eyes pop out of his head. That's when you realize these moments are important and why when the Celtics have the best record in the NBA, we shouldn't be thinking about three losses on a road of Golden State in the finals, or what is ahead of us, or rather, if you can't enjoy these moments that many other basketball fans and many other cities will never have. There are twenty franchises at least maybe more that have never come close to having a calendar year like the Celtics had

in twenty twenty two. Forget seventeen championships that forget you know, Charlotte, Sacramento, all these other these teams have never had a year like that which he won sixty plus games and had

a double digit scoring diffretchil So whatever is ahead. My point about the first half of the season is enjoy every single night because when people talk about Bird McHale and the original Big Three, they remembering getting to watch every night, and it's the same thing in the Jay's era or whatever we're gonna end up calling it of Hey, what time is the Celtics game on tonight? I want to watch, want to be there at the Garden to

see these guys play. Well, that's what let's talk about the All Star Game because to me, that's what made it so much fun. It was clear, even in the first half with Jalen coming off the bench, that the Celtics have two of the best players in the NBA. Jason Tatum on the floor. I know Lebron put on a show in that first half in those minutes he was on the floor, but Jason was right there with him. And then any time I mean Jalen checking in with that mask for the first time, you could tell there

was some adjustment there. And by the way, with the mask, I didn't know they were allowed to wear a black mask. Didn't thought wore that. He did, Okay, so it's they're back. But just those early moments with Jalen after he got used to the mask and he was dunking all over the place, launching threes, and then what we got to see in the second half was so special. And I know a lot of people asking for defense in the All Star Game, and I do not care for anything.

No one get hurt that that's the goal. Score as many buckets as you want. Let's do lay up lines, that's what you want, because that is entertaining as hell. And I loved every minute of that, and it just showcased the season that Jason and Jalen are having this season, and they have been incredible. Sean. Two things, You've got more of a photographic memory than I do, and that's

not saying much, but I don't remember. I can tell you what the Celtics dating Denver in two thousand and three, but I don't know where my car keys are, so I don't know that. That's all. It's important things where your priorities. So when I was watching Jalen and Jason go back and forth, We've seen some iconic moments with players having individual matchups. M Jane Colby comes to mind. I mean Lebron in Coolby going at each other in

the All Star Game. We've seen it before, We've seen teammates go at each other before, but that that was like multiple minutes of a game where they were going back and forth and it just seemed like everyone else was standing back and saying, the show. These guys deserve their moment. Let's watch the show. And boy did they

put on a show that was awesome to see. And I love the fact that Jalen got his moment too, because he borderline deserved to be a starter in that game, didn't quite make it as a starter, but he's having an absurd season and that's the best part. I mean, getting to watch that number one that was my first point,

was incredible. But I also love the fact that both of these guys out of the Jay's have their moments where everyone watching the TV can say, Okay, that's that guy, and then Jalen might take over and everyone watching can say, well, that's that guy. And this happened in the NBA Finals, now it happened in an NBA All Star game. I think it just shows just where this team is set up moving forward, that there's two one a's on this team.

But I also think that this season is different, and even the runs starting from the second half of last season, is that they have been able to play together and are thriving on the floor together. I feel like early on it was so much your turn, my turn, yea, and now figured it out. Yeah, we're seeing it. And twenty seven games where they've each scored twenty five plus that's never happened before in the NBA before the All Star break, and that that's what's scary. What is scary

for the rest of the league. Mark not not just Derek White and Malcolm Bradden coming off the bench, but the fact that those two have figured it out and how much they are thriving together on the floor has been an incredible transformation to the point where even though things externally are set up to find division and define stories, Kobe and Shack won championships and that's arguably the greatest

tandem ever, certainly one of them. However you want to phrase it or make those arguments which everybody likes to do these days, Kobe and Shack was the thing all the time, Kobe and Shack and the rivalry Kobe and Chack, and there's no you can't do it here because it

doesn't exist. And that's really there are I've said a million times, with everything Jalen Brown accomplishes in his basketball career, you're going to be prouder of a Celtics fan years from now about what he accomplishes off the floor in his life. But let's not overlook how he is dealing with this situation now where he is an elite player in the world. He would be the best player on

most teams in the NBA. But Jason, Jason is in his time right now where he is a top three MVP candidate where he's having this moment and there's never there's never an issue, there's never a secondary thing that comes out of it. Because these guys, again going back to being across the hall after Game six, you know they just want to win. They know what they want and it's going to take that All Star Game moment. In our job, like Abby and I come to the

ballpark every night, we might get to document history. Something special could happen. There are those rare moments when you know it as it's going on, you know, as Jason and Jalen are doing that thing. You know years from now we'll be talking about that that night in the All Star Game, and that again, that's sort of the beauty of what we do. Thank God they both made those shots right, each of them give and given them. I just call it out the Peyton Pritchard now or

that you can roll with that. You brought it up. This is gonna be the last thing that I gotta throw out there is Jason Tatum is a top three MVP candidate this season. What do you think he needs to do to get up to one? Is it possible? I tend to think that it's not going to happen, and I think it would require I'll defer to you, Abby, but I think the Celtics would have to win the NBA regular season by an extraordinary margin. They have to run away and hide. And I again, ironically, after what

I just said to me, it occurred to me. There were a lot of moments this year where it occurred to me. The biggest obstacle to Jason Tatum winning the MVP is how good Jaylen Brown is. Because he has a right, because Joel embiid, I forget. I mean, Yokis just clearly in the driver's seat and he should be. And what I said at the beginning of the years, he's won twice with Denver being in the middle of

the pack, they're gonna win the West running away. So I had no problem, unlike a lot of people, Well, you can't win three in a row, because that's historic. If Yokis is the best player, he deserves to win three years in a row. Joel Embiad has sort of defined MVP seasons to me, and that you think about these games where Joel Embiad has forty and twenty four and the Sixers are winning by like three, Yeah, he needs to do this for the Sixers to win these games.

So to me, there's that durant to me, with the injury kind of falls out of it regardless of what he does in Phoenix, but that to me, I think the Jalen presence and the fact that if it's not Yoki, voters feel and Bead has been the guy on the outside looking in and it's almost like it would be his turn. If not Yoki, I think that hurts Tatum, and this year puts Tatum in the position of where embiad is now almost like it's his turn at some

point to win it in the future. I also think it's a little bit of and we hear this a lot, is that the thing that elevates a player to a superstar level is that he makes the guys around him better. And that's a part of Jason's game that has been developing, continues to develop and is the best it's ever been. But once he regular literally starts getting and that's something that Emio Dooka said early on last season. He believes that Jason is a player who can be getting racking

up triple doubles out of regular basis. And I think that that's kind of the missing piece for Jason in that ascension to the ultimate MVP conversation is making his teammates better, and he does. He is so good at making the right basketball play. And the amount of hockey assists, if you accounted for those, I think would be huge.

But I do think that that is a part of it where if you don't watch every single game and see the mastery that he has is something that if you just look at a box score, you say, oh, Jason had five assists last night, you know, to go along with his forty points, and he's making the right basketball play, but so is everyone else. And I think that that's a testament to the Celtics offense and a testament to this team. But it's another factor when if

you're not paying attention, you could miss it. He's also he said, he's so good at those things. He's also good at being humble. And I know that if he does not win it this year, it's no sweat off his back, like he's gonna move on and he's gonna say, hey, whoever won it deserved to win it. But it's also going to give him some motivation in the offseason to try to come back and get it the next season.

And the fact that he's in the conversation at nineteen years old, I would imagine that by the time he reaches Nudge Kid. But at twenty four, if he's in the top three of the MVP voting, you know one is coming his way if all things you know, granted that he remains healthy, but it's common that's just a matter of when. Again, one of the things about the Celtics historically there are no scoring champions. You know, MVPs

is individual things, so people don't care. How about instead of baby bigger than Jason Tatum being or not being the MVP this year, is the fact that there is now you cannot argue against the fact that he has put together one of the four or five best resumes in the history of the game for players under twenty five years old. That can't be argued. He's climbing that oring list. He's the first ever too. He's the youngest

player to make a thousand threes. And not to mention there are players that put up big numbers like this, he is combined putting up these big numbers with a trip to the NBA Finals and multiple trips nowt of the conference finals. So put together, look at the resumes of players under twenty five, the elite of the elite, Durant, Kobe Shack, Jason Tatum is in the conversation with these guys. We don't know what twenty five to thirty to thirty

to thirty five is going to look like. But among the all time greatest players in the history of this game that was in meted by James nay Smith, Jason Tatum is one of the best under twenty five players to ever play period period. And by the time this episode airs, we're gonna be a few days ahead of his twenty fifth birthday. He will maybe by the time this airs are shortly thereafter, he will become the number seven scorer of all time in the history of the

league before the age of twenty five. And think about that and a couple of the guys on it, because I've been I've been you know, you guys know, I've been pipping that list for a while and we've been running it on TV and whatever. That Some of those guys on that list are high school guys. Obviously, Johannis didn't play the year in college, Devin Booker did, Kevin

Durant did, but and Shack obviously played at LSU. But there are guys on that list, Kobe among them that did not play, you know, so among these, I think fourth maybe on that list of guys that actually played in college. Crazy crazy, well, and we gets every single night. We'll keep doing that the rest of the season. But a lot of fun things that we got to rewind and look back on so far in the season. I have a question for you, what do you got set?

Because historically it has never happened before. What I talked about would Abbey doing, I'm doing what Max is doing, You're watching, you're taking in TV and radio before. This is never we talk about player at depth and playing multiple positions and positions. Well, this isn't a historic year in terms of Celtics broadcasting as far as people being I mean, where's that's the most flowers for being able to on no notice, jumping from one to the other,

and you know, where's all that. This is an historic part of the season. It wasn't on your little rundown sheet this The flowers are happening now to both of you carry multiple, multiple roles, bouncing back and forth. It's everything you already said. I think you gave the flowers out to yourself. Jowers. This is the job TI man,

tell us where to go and the words. I can say this anyone who's watching or listening, if you tune into the radio or the TV, you never you're gonna hear one no matter what any given night, which you're gonna get And hopefully this gives me we need one of those Twitter accounts like who's doing the Celtics can tonight? Like and then it's just who's announcing. Yeah, it's kind of like the Celtics starting lineup. It is very much you don't know the rotating door and you ask us, hey,

who's gonna start toime. We just give you the we'll announce it, give you the Joe one word answer. You'll find out thirty minutes before we're pre get start, we'll have to show someone out, someone else on TV or radio today. We're gonna we're gonna work her out before the game, and then we'll make a decision someone out there. We'll fire up that Twitter account. It's going to happen now.

But now this has been great, Let's look forward to the second half of the season, which is really the final twenty three games and hopefully this team makes a long run. So that's episode four, season three of You from the Rappers, and see you guys next week with another episode