The Boston Celtics may have lost the 2022 NBA Finals but in the process, they managed to save the blueprint.
As the time expired in Game 6 and on their season, the Boston Celtics slowly walked off their home floor in understandable disappointment. This wasn’t the end that they had imagined. Especially not after their constant resiliency throughout the postseason.
Nevertheless, the Golden State Warriors raised the Larry O’Brien Trophy as the Celtics could do nothing more than watch and think about how this moment would fuel them heading into next season.
Even though moral victories are never as rewarding as the real thing, there is one silver lining that did come from this Celtics’ incomplete championship run. Boston saved the blueprint.
It could not have been the ultimate goal for the team heading into this season but was without a doubt something that needed to be decided. Heck, even early this season there were whispers that perhaps the Celtics would have to choose between Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
That all seems silly now as their dynamic duo helped carry them to the NBA Finals. And considering that the Celtics were a few bounces away from winning the title, it would be foolish to continue to think that a duo of Tatum and Brown can’t lead this team to the promised land.
Failure is often the ugly part of success. And that’s been the story throughout the illustrious history of the NBA. All the greats had to face failure before they reached the top of the mountain. Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo – and the list goes on – all had big failures before winning on the biggest platform in the NBA.
The same could end up being the case for Tatum, Brown, and this version of the Celtics.
Will there be tweaks? Of course. There should be. To say that the Celtics need to completely revamp the roster, though, would be outlandish. Boston was close. They are close. And this team is only going to get better.
The NBA Finals may not have ended as the Celtics would have hoped, but they should feel good about where the franchise – and their current build is – heading into next season. Boston may not have won the championship, but they saved the blueprint.