The last NBA champ that defended its crown with vigor was the '97 Bulls. They loved being "The Champs." They loved shutting up crowds on the road, fending off young upstarts and sending messages to potential contenders. On a nightly basis, Jordan (and most of the time, Pippen) simply wouldn't allow the Bulls to let up competitively, even carrying the slack for everyone else on the nights when nobody showed up. Beyond that, it meant something to that particular team, night in and night out, to show up as "The Champs" with a big bull's-eye on their backs and spend the next 150 minutes laying the smack down and proving why that bull's-eye was there.
For a variety of reasons, we just finished a 12-year stretch of defending champs that weren't wired that way. Either they were saving their legs for the playoffs (the '04 and '08 Spurs); they were overly arrogant and/or battling the usual array of demons that come after winning the title (the Kobe-Shaq teams, the '05 Pistons); or they were battling injuries/age/complacency (the '99 Bulls, '01 Spurs and '07 Heat). Only the '98 Bulls and '06 Spurs defended their title by winning 60-plus games and a No. 1 seed, but neither carried themselves with that definitive "Throw everything you have at us, we're ready!" swagger. (Important note: The '01 Lakers found that swagger in the playoffs and unleashed holy hell for two straight months. But since it didn't happen for nine months, they can't qualify.) I believe this Celtics team is wired like that '97 Bulls team. They won't have the ego/money/stats problems that develop sometimes after a championship. They won't mail in the regular season because Garnett and Pierce are too freaking competitive on a day-to-day basis to let it happen. They also developed two positive wrinkles: Pierce's "I'm an elite player, dammit!" challenge to himself, and Rajon Rondo's quest to make the All-Star team.
And then there's this: No team since Magic's last two Lakers teams has enjoyed a title more than last year's Celtics. They celebrated for six solid weeks. They celebrated in Boston. They celebrated in L.A. They celebrated in Vegas. They celebrated in Malibu. You could say that the veteran stars appreciated the significance because they could put it in the proper perspective, that the team was unnaturally close, that righting the league's most famous franchise pushed everything over the top. Whatever the case, these guys LOVE being the champs. They want to repeat for all the right reasons, and as a fan of the team, I'm looking forward to this season specifically for those 10-11 road games against good teams when they show up with their chest puffed out and their imaginary championship belts tossed over their shoulders. I don't think the Celtics will win a second straight title, but they will kill themselves trying. And that's really all you can ask for.
Interesting observation and very true. Also more at the link about Posey departure.
Again, Pete, we agree on Simmons...