Jayson Tatum praises Nuggets while rubbing salt in the wound for fans

The Celtics are still reveling in the glroy of their championship in 16 years and the first of this Jayson Tatum/Jaylen Brown era. The Celtics have been building towards this for years and kept climbing up the hill, getting closer and closer, until finally breaking through and earning their 18th NBA championship in franchise history.

Looking back, it’s easy to say the Celtics were the best team in the league; they dominated the regular season with a 64-18 record while cracking all-time lists for point-differential and NET rating. They were a true juggernaut and they carried it into the playoffs, going 16-3 en route to a dominant title. They never even faced a game 6.

But even as the Celtics were wiping the floor with their competition, it still felt like there was one team that could challenge them; the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets won both regular season matchups with Boston - they were the only team to sweep the Celtics all season.

Both games were billed as championship previews and had a little more palpible juice to them. But on both occasions, the Nuggets prevailed, showing that they were still the defending champs and that the Celtics would have to go through them. Except they didn’t. 

Nuggets fans still probably feel like they could have given the Celtics a series if they had made the Finals and perhaps they could have, but alas, we’ll never know. I don’t know if it’s any consolation for Nuggets fans or just a painful reminder of what could have been, but for what it’s worth, Celtics’ star Jayson Tatum seems to share the sentiment.

Jayson Tatum says Nuggets were toughest matchup for Celtics

In a recent intereview with Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, Tatum was asked at what point he knew he was going to win the championship and he gave a very honest response, 

“People always ask me, when did you guys know you were going to win a championship? When Minnesota beat Denver, I felt like Denver was the only team that they matched up best with us. I thought that we were going to play Denver in the Finals and it was going to be a good one.”

It’s rare and refreshing to hear a player talk so honestly. It’s not exactly a revelation as I’m sure many fans shared this view but it is interesting to hear it from Tatum, himself. It’s nice to hear the respect from the current champs, as they clearly saw Denver as their strongest competitors.

But it’s also frustrating to realize what could have been and that we may end up looking back on 2024 as a wasted opportunity. The title was open for the taking, and the Celtics were the team that stepped up and took it. No shade towards them, but if only the Nuggets could have pulled out that game 7 and made their way to the Finals. What could have been? We’ll never know.