Around the NBA, there aren’t many more teams as historic as the Boston Celtics.
Over the past few decades, the Celtics have done nothing but win.
While it didn’t always equate to them winning an NBA championship, the Celtics finally accomplished that just two seasons ago.
Unfortunately, in a year where it looked like the Celtics would have another chance to win it all, star forward Jayson Tatum went down with a gruesome Achilles injury in the second round against the New York Knicks.
It remains uncertain whether Tatum will return to the Celtics throughout the 2025-26 campaign, but there have been rumors about that happening. It’ll likely come down to what the Celtics look like, depending on when Tatum can return.
With Tatum injured, it has certainly raised the idea of Boston tanking.
The Celtics started the season 0-3 but have won three games since, putting themselves in a position where they can feel confident moving forward if they can just play the type of basketball that everyone knows they're capable of, even with Tatum out.
Regarding the tanking aspect, however, head coach Joe Mazzulla didn’t even want to bring that up, saying that he doesn’t pay attention to it and that he has a responsibility to the fans in Boston and the players in Boston to go out every single night and do his best job to ensure the team has a chance to win.
"Quite honestly, I don't pay attention to it," Mazzulla said, per Boston.com. "I think at the end of the day, you have a responsibility to the players, especially here in Boston. We have a responsibility to the players, to the city, to the organization to stick to the process of winning and go out there."
It’ll be interesting to see how the Celtics perform towards the back end of the season, but there could be a scenario where it makes sense to tank, depending on how things unfold over the next few months.
2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.