Few challenges across sports are more difficult than repeating as champions, and it's proven quite tough in the NBA to accomplish this feat in recent seasons.
The last five teams [before the reigning champion Boston Celtics](https://www.nbcsportsboston.com/nba/boston-celtics/nba-repeat-champions-lakers-bulls-michael-jordan/658884/) to win the NBA Finals all failed to repeat, and none of those squads even reached the conference finals during their title defense. The last time we saw a stretch of six or more different pro basketball champions in a row was 1975 through 1980.
The Celtics franchise has experienced winning back-to-back titles before, but not for a long time. The last time the C's won consecutive championships came in the 1967-68 and 1968-69 seasons, which were Bill Russell's final two titles before retiring.
The C's have won seven titles since 1969, but they failed to repeat each time. On the latest episode of NBC Sports Boston's _Celtics Talk Podcast_, host Chris Forsberg talked to C's players at the premiere of [HBO's _Celtics City_ documentary](https://www.nbcsportsboston.com/nba/boston-celtics/celtics-city-docuseries-joe-mazzulla/691614/) that begins streaming March 3 on MAX.
"The city of Boston expects championships," Celtics guard Derrick White said. "And in the Celtics' history, there are a lot of them. It's great to be part of that, a long list of great teams."
Does White think about what it would mean for this group to win two championships?
"While we're in the process of it, we're just trying to stay in the moment," White said. "There are a lot of great teams. A lot of teams haven't gone back-to-back. That's the challenge we have right now. It's a fun one."
Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, who won the series MVP award in the 2024 NBA Finals, does think about what winning a second title in Boston would do for this team's legacy.
"I do. I would be lying if I said I didn't," Brown said. "I'm just as hungry as I was last year, and I'm excited for the playoffs."
The Celtics are in a good spot as the calendar turns to March. Boston has a 43-18 record, good enough for second place in the Eastern Conference standings. The Celtics are one of only two teams -- the OKC Thunder are the other -- to be ranked top-five in both offensive and defensive rating right now.
This is a deep, talented and very motivated group of players who are excited for what the playoffs will bring.
"We knew it wasn't going to be easy coming into the season," Celtics forward Sam Hauser said. "Every season poses new challenges. Other teams get better. The way we played last year isn't always necessarily how we have to play this year, because you have to adapt and change as the season goes along.
"We're starting to find our groove it seems like. We've been building. Had a little rough patch in there early in the season, but we're not too far off where we were last season at this time, which is exciting."
**Also in this episode**:
* Joe Mazzulla on the responsibility of representing the historic Boston Celtics
* Jaylen Brown talks his motivation to continue Celtics’ winning tradition
* Derrick White on being a part of Celtics history
* Wyc Grousbeck on the making of “Celtics City” docuseries