Team Building, Patience, & Innovation: How the Boston Celtics Got Back to the NBA’s Mountaintop

Boston’s formula for success is one we have seen the franchise utilize before, and it is even more rare to see now than it ever was previously

Every year, The Ringer puts out a top 100 list of the best players in the NBA. The Boston Celtics, who just won their league record eighteenth championship, had five players make this list: Jayson Tatum (7), Jaylen Brown (25), Kristaps Porzingis (39), Derrick White (42), and Jrue Holiday (47). Most teams have three or four players on this list but what is notable about Boston’s is that all their players are in the top 50, none of them is a top 5 player, and their second-best player is outside of the top 20.

The Celtics won their title with a team concept. At the core of their roster are their two wing players, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, that the team has drafted, developed, and stuck with despite outside pressure suggesting that the team needed to choose one of them to be the face of the franchise. The team also acquired veterans Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in trades this season that proved to be part of the missing equation that this team needed. Combined with Derrick White, the Celtics bought into a team concept that has paid dividends with a championship and the fifth best winning percentage in franchise…