Jayson Tatum will love Brad Stevens' Celtics proclamation

Brad Stevens recently bared that he thinks the current Celtics, led by Jayson Tatum, is as tight-knit a unit as he's seen.

For the greater part of the past decade, the Boston Celtics have been one of the best teams in the entire association. From the Isaiah Thomas-led upstart teams, to Kyrie Irving's two-year stint in Beantown, to Jayson Tatum's ascent as a true MVP candidate, Brad Stevens has seen it all amid his transition from head coach to front office executive.

And from the looks of things, Stevens sees something in the current iteration of the Celtics that may not have been present over recent seasons. Brad Stevens recently bared that he thinks the current Celtics is as tight-knit a unit as he's seen.

“We haven't hung one of those banners, but we've had a lot of close teams, and a lot of good teams. This one has as much camaraderie and togetherness as any I've been around,” Stevens said.

It's difficult to quantify the true impact of chemistry. However, it makes sense that athletes perform better in a team setting when they have a greater appreciation for their teammates. Jayson Tatum and the Celtics know about the issue of chemistry all too well.

In 2019, the Celtics appeared to have too many cooks in the kitchen for Brad Stevens' liking. Boston may have been deep, but it led to some discontent due to others' diminished roles. During that season, the Celtics suffered a second-round exit, an utter disappointment for a team with so much talent.

The following year, the Celtics replaced Kyrie Irving with Kemba Walker, let Marcus Morris, Terry Rozier, and Al Horford walk in free agency, and handed the keys to the franchise to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. And they made the Eastern Conference Finals soon thereafter.

Despite their down year in 2020-21, the Celtics went all the way to the Finals in 2022, thanks to Tatum and Brown's emergence as bonafide franchise talents, as well as Al Horford's renaissance. Now hardened by their trip to the Finals and their eventual loss to the Golden State Warriors, it stands to reason that the Celtics are closer than ever. And that may be all the help they need to make the leap from runners-up to champions.