As happy as he was to be hoisting the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy again, sounded nearly as excited to have a front-row seat to watch and get their hands on NBA championship gold for the first time — to see the Celtics’ two young superstar wings reach this watershed moment, as they have so many others over the past seven seasons, together, and with joy. “It's been great to experience on this side, and to be on this side and get this win,” Holiday said on Monday night, after the Celtics put the finishing touches on a in Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals, eliminating the to reach the top of the mountain. “Hopefully, it's a burden off of their shoulders.
” There’s something a vet like Holiday understands about this, though, that his younger, gleeful colleagues might not yet have internalized. See, the relief of sloughing off the yoke of Can’t Win the Big One — the pleasure that comes with putting down that weight and picking up a great big golden trophy — can be fleeting. Because, after all, what is happiness? “Another burden,” Holiday said, “is doing it again.
” That’s a trick that’s become harder and harder to pull off in the modern NBA, where has continued to accelerate at such a blinding clip that virtually every crowbarred-open path to contention seems to begin closing in two years, max. The last six seasons have each ended with a different team lording over the league; we haven’t seen a repeat champion since was a Warrior. In a 30-team sp.