The Boston Celtics begin their defense of their Eastern Conference Championship tonight against the Philadelphia 76ers. While they certainly aren’t looking past their Atlantic Division rivals, the Celtics have bigger goals in mind this NBA season.
They want to avenge their loss in the NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors. Boston took home-court advantage away in Game 1, pulling off the upset victory. After winning Game 3, they were in control of the series but ran out of gas after that.
Golden State would go on to win the next three games, winning the series in six. It is something that left Jayson Tatum feeling terrible at the conclusion. He recently spoke to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated and revealed just how bad it felt.
“I was exhausted,” Tatum told Mannix. “Didn’t feel like talking to anybody. Didn’t feel like being bothered. It’s hard to explain if you have never been in that situation. But losing a championship was f—ing miserable.”
Losing a championship will change a person. Sometimes, as it seemed to be with Tatum, it changes you for the better as it is a feeling that you never want to experience again.
LATEST NBA NEWS: Jayson Tatum & Boston Celtics Updates
As detailed by Mannix, Tatum went dark for a few weeks after the NBA Finals concluded. One of the first people that he communicated with first after that was trainer Drew Hanlen, who said that he noticed a change in Tatum’s demeanor. The young superstar had flipped that switch and had become obsessed with winning.
“Yeah, we lost. There’s no secret. We talk about it like every day. It’s a relief to get out there and just play basketball and have a goal in mind. Obviously we’re trying to get to a championship. It starts with tomorrow, one game at a time.”
The Celtics are in good hands with a re-focused and motivated Tatum leading the way. Paired with Jaylen Brown, Boston has as good of a chance as any team to compete and win the Larry O’Brien Trophy this season with the roster that they have put together.
LATEST NBA NEWS: Jayson Tatum & Boston Celtics Updates
The game against the 76ers on Monday is the first on their quest of repeating as Eastern Conference champs. However, that will not be good enough for them this season, as Tatum and his teammates want to be the last team standing, hoisting the trophy in June.
