On Monday evening, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics finally broke through and won their first NBA title since the Bush administration with a home demolition of Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. Tatum had far and away the best game of his Finals career in this one, scoring 31 points and dishing out 11 assists, but it still wasn't quite enough to win the Finals MVP trophy, which instead went to Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown, who was much more consistent over the course of the five games.
Two of the more unsung heroes on the Celtics all season have been Derrick White and Jrue Holiday, who make up the Boston backcourt and are two of the best perimeter defenders in the entire NBA, in addition to being lethal weapons on the offensive end in their own right.
In fact, recently, Celtics legend Paul Pierce had some lofty praise for the duo that might raise some eyebrows around the NBA.
“This is the best backcourt in the NBA overall,” said Pierce on FS1's Undisputed, via UNDISPUTED on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter. “…Jrue Holiday and Derrick White is the best backcourt, offensively, defensively, I'm throwing that out the window. Best backcourt in the NBA.”
“So you think GM's would take them over Luka (Doncic) and Kyrie (Irving)?” wondered host Skip Bayless.
“Yes,” Pierce replied. “…You put this backcourt on any team in the NBA, you're a contender. Any team.”
While there is not a single general manager in the NBA–including Brad Stevens of the Celtics–who would take Holiday and White over Doncic and Irving, the point remains that Holiday and White are indeed two of the most important members of one of the greatest teams in NBA history, at least if the analytics are any indication.
Can the Celtics go back to back?
In theory, there's no reason why the Celtics shouldn't once again be hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy at this time next year. Boston has all of its key pieces under contract for 2024-25, with both White and Tatum expected to sign monster extensions this offseason. Tatum and Brown will both still be in their mid-to-late 20's by the time next season rolls around, and although White and Holiday will both be on the wrong side of 30, neither player relies that heavily on athleticism or speed, meaning their games should age relatively gracefully.
It should be noted that the Eastern Conference playoffs likely won't be the same cakewalk next season for the Celtics that they were this year. It's not a great bet that every single team they face will have their best player go down with injury one right after another, although it's worth noting that the Celtics would have been clear favorites over anyone in the East even at full strength.
In any case, dynasties are hard to come by in the modern NBA, but if one were to emerge, the Celtics probably have the best chance of establishing themselves as one.
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