This season didn’t start on October 26.
It didn’t start on October 1 with the acquisition of Jrue Holiday nor when the Celtics traded Marcus Smart for Kristaps Porzingis on June 23. It wasn’t the moment Jaylen Brown inked his extension, and it wasn’t when the final buzzer sounded in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
No, the 2023-2024 Celtics’ season—along with their dreams of revenge, immortality, and Banner 18—started on May 21, 2017.
The 2017 playoffs are the watershed moment for the modern Celtics juggernaut. Captained by the heroic 5’9” Isaiah Thomas nursing a hip injury, the 2016-2017 Celtics clawed their way through the Bulls in round one and ended the only good Wizards season in 50 years with a Kelly Olynyk Game 7 eruption in round two.