Since Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown joined forces on the Boston Celtics in 2017, they have been the stars on teams that have impressed fans and foes alike. But they also have lost three Eastern Conference Finals and one NBA Finals. That made them one of the best Celtics teams never to have hoisted a banner in TD Garden.
That question mark was answered last night when the green and white beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 to win the NBA Finals 4-1. Much will be written about this latest championship—number 18 for the organization—but our focus will be on the lessons they have learned from their losses in the past few years. These lessons don’t involve tactics or strategy but habits of mind and ways of applying these habits in competitive situations, including:
Brown was upending a frequent misunderstanding of momentum, which is that this powerful force in human affairs operates in a vacuum—between games or between project meetings or sales calls, say. In reality, momentum occurs through these performances by leaders who are immersed in them and able to spot openings in the flow of competition and then exploit that opening to turn the tide. Talking about momentum as though it exists in abstraction is a non-starter, which Brown didn’t call the reporter on but seemed to insinuate.
Brown knew that a Boston win in Game 5 would bring double joy to the team’s fans, moving the Celtics past rival the Los Angeles Lakers who are tied with Boston at 17 championships a piece, and consecrating the Tatum-Brown Era.
Gee, no pressure there.
Maybe that’s why Brown ended his interview with a barely discernable prayer, offered just for good measure, to a higher power he hopes smiles down on these little green men playing with a ball around a rim to a roaring crowd.
That Lord of the Hardcourt heard his prayer. Number 18 has been delivered!
