The Boston Celtics have made it to the Eastern Conference Finals three times in the last four years. At this point, it's hard to deny that anything less than a trip to the NBA Finals is going to be a disappointment for this squad. For his part, Celtics star Jaylen Brown believes that this will all have to start with three key members of the squad.

According to Brown, it's going to be himself, Marcus Smart, and Jayson Tatum who's going to have to lead the way for the Celtics if they are going to be able to reach their goals this term:

“That starts with me,” said Celtics star Jaylen Brown, via Taylor C. Snow of NBA.com. “That starts with (Marcus) Smart. And that starts with JT. We’ve got to set the tone, and those young guys will follow suit. But it starts with us, and we’ve got to come out and play with more tenacity, more energy. And we will.”

Brown isn't wrong here. His trio with Smart and Tatum has been the heart and soul of the Celtics over the past few years. It is only logical to think that in order for this team to reach the next level, these three will have to be at their very best this season — both on and off the court.

It is interesting to note that Brown decided to omit Kemba Walker from his list Celtics list. Perhaps the fact that the four-time All-Star point guard is expected to be out until at least January due to a lingering knee injury played a role in the same. We wouldn't really read to much into this at this point.