Celtics embracing challenge of trying to repeat as NBA champs

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Celtics embracing challenge of trying to repeat as NBA champs originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Few challenges across sports are more difficult than repeating as champions, and it’s proven quite tough in the NBA to accomplish this feat in recent seasons.

The last five teams before the reigning champion Boston Celtics to win the NBA Finals all failed to repeat, and none of those squads even reached the conference finals during their title defense. The last time we saw a stretch of six or more different pro basketball champions in a row was 1975 through 1980.

The Celtics franchise has experienced winning back-to-back titles before, but not for a long time. The last time the C’s won consecutive championships came in the 1967-68 and 1968-69 seasons, which were Bill Russell’s final two titles before retiring.

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The C’s have won seven titles since 1969, but they failed to repeat each time. On the latest episode of NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics Talk Podcast, host Chris Forsberg talked to C’s players at the premiere of HBO’s Celtics City documentary that begins streaming March 3 on MAX.

“The city of Boston expects championships,” Celtics guard Derrick White said. “And in the Celtics’ history, there are a lot of them. It’s great to be part of that, a long list of great teams.”

Does White think about what it would mean for this group to win two championships?

“While we’re in the process of it, we’re just trying to stay in the moment,” White said. “There are a lot of great teams. A lot of teams haven’t gone back-to-back. That’s the challenge we have right now. It’s a fun one.”

Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, who won the series MVP award in the 2024 NBA Finals, does think about what winning a second title in Boston would do for this team’s legacy.

“I do. I would be lying if I said I didn’t,” Brown said. “I’m just as hungry as I was last year, and I’m excited for the playoffs.”

The Celtics are in a good spot as the calendar turns to March. Boston has a…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/celtics-embracing-challenge-trying-repeat-173410785.html

Author : NBC Sports Boston

Publish date : 2025-03-03 17:34:00

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