Yeah, it does. It’s their past, recent and less recent. They’re a mentally soft team. They have teenager attention spans and they’re not teenagers.
Recent: They were booed off the court by their home fans after desultory halves and full games against inferior opponents.
Not so recent: Where to start? They consistently underperform in the playoffs, lost the first three games to the “Heat” last post-season. Have gotten to one Finals with this group.
They are the most talented team in the Association. They are capable of beating opponents so badly that it's soul robbery. They have the best record and it's not even close. And I hate them. I hate them primarily because I'm a "Heat" fan, but also because familiarity adds rationality to irrational partisan hate. I don't respect them. They're soft mentally. Despite my partisan hate I hoped in print that the "Celtics" and "Nuggets" would play for the 2024 championship. It's what the Association and its fans are due. So I was glad to read Jaylen Brown's comments after last night's only-the-"Celtics" upchuck:
"Today was just a mentality loss. Today matters. Whether everybody wants to throw it away or not, we gotta look at the film and address some stuff because that matters. Your habits are everything, your mentality is everything. You can’t waste possessions or time out there on the floor. So, today matters."
That's maturity. Something these "Celtics" just don't have. If Brown's comments spur them to more of it I will still hate them with sweet partisanship unalloyed with reasoned disrespect.