Let’s think about Jerod Mayo for a moment and what he’s being tasked to do. First, and the most complicated: Replace the greatest coach of all-time. Bill Belichick the GM let Bill Belichick the coach down too often towards the end of his Patriots run, but there’s no room in this writer’s humble opinion to disrespect the fantastic run and success he had with the franchise. The expectation in New England is to win and Mayo has to not only do that, but do it at the highest level to justify his hiring.
Not only that, but Mayo has to accomplish that goal as a first-time Head Coach, who never coached at the collegiate level and has never been a coordinator. We should all appreciate that that in itself is a monumental task. He also has to make sure the handling of Drake Maye goes splendidly, while working with an entirely new offensive coaching staff. But, wait, there's more...
When we read Bedard’s report about the rookie class, one of the first reactions we had was: That’s even more being poured into Mayo’s coaching cup. IF these executives’ claims about some of the prospects end up causing problems at the NFL level, Mayo will be responsible for handling those "issues” along with every other box he needs to check.
Another interesting aspect of this conversation is how Mayo’s been described by multiple players as a “players coach.” Mayo has talked about establishing relationships, connecting, and focusing on the human being before the X’s and O’s. That approach could immediately put to the test with some of the rookies, if those rookies want to “test the waters.”
Mayo, meanwhile, will have to make sure that his locker room is capable of handling the possibility of not only the rookie class, but any player, who might start to head off the rails.
Eliot Wolf and the front office, if these players are indeed character “risks,” are trusting Mayo to develop those players on and off the field. Now, it’s up to Mayo to prove them right among the many other responsibilities he has during his rookie campaign.
What’s With These Celtics Narratives?
Narratives. It’s a word that is part, for better or worse, of the media coverage lexicon.
As the years go by, the more narratives are spewed, and eventually we get to the point of some of (most of?) the media irresponsibly and/or ridiculously throwing stuff up against the wall for the sake of CONTENT. Who cares if we don’t include context? Who cares if we’re being inaccurate or misleading when describing what’s happening? It’s’ CONTENT, baby!
It’s also much more difficult to get engagement on social media, television eyeballs, or website visits, if the narrative is positive. That leads hosts, writers, producers, to keep on asking “what can we say that will drive people to react?” Shoot, for social media/online “content creators” (ahem), algorithms try to motivate you to be dramatic in your headlines so you can reach a larger audience. Reach a larger audience, get paid more. Which leads to, you got it, clickbait.
So, we know the game. However, that still doesn’t make the weird coverage of the Celtics during what has been, to this point, a historic run to the Finals, any less embarrassing.
Before we continue, we want to remind you how historic this C’s team has been.
OK, now that we got that out of the way.
It’s, unfortunately, not controversial or won’t trigger enough people to credit a team for what they’ve done leading into the Finals. So, even though this team ripped through the regular season, are 12-2 in the playoffs, 9-1 without Kristaps Porzingis and are currently both undefeated on the road AND in clutch games, we’re still getting funky conversation.
Funky conversation, like: The morning after Jaylen Brown scored 40 points against the Pacers, the question was if Brown is better than Jayson Tatum? Funny, they didn’t ask the inverse when Tatum “ho-hummed” his way through a 51-13-5 Game 7 performance last year against the MVP.
How about this one: Questioning Tatum’s happiness level at the time Brown was named the ECF MVP, even though we can all see the video of Tatum clapping, smiling, and getting involved in the celebration “scrum” for Brown as he receives said trophy. It’s truly bananas.
The other part of these narratives that drive this scribe crazy is the double standard of the coverage. For example, there’s the point that the Celtics path has been easy due to playing teams missing their best players. Nobody would deny that. However, why is this pushed over and over again, while nobody brings up the Mavericks beating the Clippers without Kawhi Leonard for 4.5 of the 6 games in their first round series? We claim shenanigans.
More shenanigans:
Here are Jayson Tatum’s postseason numbers: 26/10.4/5.9 (44.2% FG & 29% 3pt)
Here are Luka Doncic’s postseason numbers (Heading into Thursday night): 28/9.6/9.1 (42.6% FG & 32.7% 3pt)
Tatum plays defense. Doncic? Not so much.
Just wondering - Has ESPN discussed Dereck Lively being more impactful than Doncic?
Yeah, we didn't think so.
Let’s look locally. This space recently heard Michael Felger say on NBC Sports Boston’s “BST” that Tatum and the Celtics are facing the same kinds of criticisms that Michael Jordan and LeBron James faced before they won a title. We, respectfully, believe that’s a bad faith take.
MJ and LeBron were the best players in the game before they won their first championship. Jordan was an MVP and had finished in the top-3 of the MVP voting FOUR times before winning his first title in 1991. LeBron, meanwhile, was a two-time MVP and also finished in the top-3 of the MVP voting FOUR times before winning his first title in 2012.
Tatum’s highest finish in MVP voting was fourth, last season. If we’re comparing Tatum to the GOAT and arguably the 2nd best player to ever live, then we guess you could criticize Tatum for not winning a title yet.
We’ve got the perfect 2024 headline: Why is Tatum NOT Michael Jordan?!?!
That’s about as reasonable as some of the other things that we’ve seen the last few weeks. Seriously, you can’t have it both ways: You can’t tell us that Tatum is overrated by Celtics fans, while saying he deserves to be held to the same standard as MJ or LBJ. That’s ridiculous.
By the way, we’d also note that Jordan didn’t win his first title until year seven (after being in college for THREE years), while LeBron took nine years to accomplish the feat. If you’re wondering, Tatum is in year seven.
But the Jordan-LBJ-Tatum comparison is the type of stuff that is being said and written. Is it any wonder that Celtics fans are defensive about this team? Can you blame them?
It’s not about the legitimate “Championship or Bust” discussion for a team that’s been so dominant. Nor is it to say that the team never deserves criticism or be questioned about falling short at times. This isn't about always being "sunshine and roses." Rather, it’s about the disingenuousness and double standard nature of some of the coverage. It’s fans feeling like they have to take a daily trip on the crazy train to watch, listen, or read about their team.
It doesn’t HAVE to be that way.