Celtics' title changes narratives, rewards faith in step-by-step process

It took seven years to get there, but on Monday night, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown finally found themselves atop the NBA mountain after securing banner number 18 for the Boston Celtics.

After the Celtics finished off the Mavericks with a 106-88 win in Game 5, an emotional Tatum offered up a pointed response to his doubters by shouting into ESPN’s microphone, “What they gonna say now.”

In the proceeding commercial break, Jordan Brand, which signed Tatum to a multiyear shoe deal in 2019, aired a pre-produced spot for Tatum with an emphatic tagline, “Don’t Stop Disbelieving.”

While Tatum may wish for the public to keep the same energy toward him and his teammates going forward, WEEI’s Andy Hart thinks this ring will change the narratives surrounding the Celtics. Listen to the full segment above.

“All of them change with the ring,” Hart said while filling in for Christian Fauria on Gresh & Fauria Tuesday. “It doesn't change what they did or what we questioned, right? That was real at the time, but it worked.

“I think all of us have criticized all of the particulars at some point … Y'all booed Jaylen Brown when he was drafted. Jayson Tatum, we've questioned his toughness … Joe Mazzulla, is he a great coach? Is he a good coach? Is he stuck in his ways? Not ready? Is he doing ninja somersaults in the locker room? Is he kind of a clown? ... All of it was made right by this win.”

Hart also commented on how the slow build for the Celtics was “fascinating.”

“So few of these work,” he said. “The plans, the ideas, these GMs. Ask Chaim Bloom [former Red Sox GM]. Where’s he now? Because he had a plan. Where’s he? How’s the plan going?

“We so rarely get to see it play out step by step, and this was step-like. Eastern Conference Finals, but then you lose, Eastern Conference Finals to Finals, but then you lose. There was such a process.”