16 Years In The Making, Watching The Celtics Raise Banner 18 To The Rafters Was Worth The Wait

Nathaniel S. Butler. Getty Images.

The very first blog I ever wrote went live on this site on March 19th, 2015. A road loss to the OKC Thunder. Since that moment, I've been fortunate enough to have somewhere around 8,000+ blogs published (not counting what DevNest may have lost) in what will be 10 years this coming March. 

Of all the blogs I've ever written, this is a blog in particular that I have spent literal years dreaming about. It's still pretty surreal to me that after all this time, I can finally write a Celtics Championship Banner Night blog. Some of you have been here since that first Thunder blog, and to think of where we are today and the journey we've gone through together, what a ride it's been.

Every year we enter the new NBA season with hopes and dreams of seeing the Celts reach the top of the mountain, but as the last 16 years have shown, it's hard as shit. Getting those final 16 wins is a real motherfucker. One or two things don't go your way and that's it. Another year left searching for that ever-elusive title. 

To finally achieve that dream is a crazy experience. Sure none of us are on the roster and none of us played a single second on the way to Banner 18, but fuck that. This title was a collective win. The fanbase, the city, the front office, the ticket execs who I know are absolutely loving life right now (shoutout Colorado Rapids Inside Sales), the players, the coaches, we all own a share of this title. I know people tend to roll their eyes at the whole "it's different in Boston" thing, but…….it is. If you're not a part of it I'm afraid you'll never truly understand what that means or feels like, and for the Celtics specifically it really is different. This isn't to say other fanbases don't love their team and people don't go nuts when they win a title. Of course they do.

But in Boston and for the Celts, it's a different world when you're talking about the greatest franchise in the history of the sport. The expectations are higher, the standards are higher, the criticism is higher, the games mean more, the parades are bigger, it truly is different.

Which is partly why tonight is so emotional. It's a really big fucking deal.

I thought Joe summed it up best way back in episode 5 of the All In series

This isn't just about the 2024 Celts. It's about everyone. Those of prior generations and prior teams that helped build the Celtics into what they are today. This was a run that you truly felt in your soul and is a great example of the type of special connection this team has with the city. The last 16 years have been filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, players have come and gone, coaches have come and gone, but one thing has remained true, and that's Celtics Pride.

As weird or corny as it may sound to some, it's true. The Boston Celtics are not a basketball team, they are a way of life. What made the 2024 Celtics champions is the same thing that made all the previous teams that came before them champions. It wasn't until they truly embraced what it means to play for the Boston Celtics that this team unlocked the same type of dominance of the prior generations. It was almost as if something had finally clicked and the rest was history. Losing along the way on the biggest stages and experiencing that pain, playing the right way at all times regardless of what that meant in terms of individual success. Wanting for your teammate more than you want for yourself. The list goes on and on. Fully embracing what it means to be a Celtic from top to bottom.

For the first time in 16 years, that is what we got.

I'll never forget what it was like to watch the 2008 Banner Night. It was the first title I'd ever witnessed with my own eyes and something I went my entire life dreaming about. You see I arrived on this planet right after the Larry Bird titles. I was molded by the darkest era in Celtics history aka The Rick Pitino Era. For years I had to listen to all the old-timers who sat around me at the Garden talk about the glory days and how I could never imagine what that was like. Then this happened

My generation finally had our own moment. Watching Paul Pierce (my favorite Celtic of all time) finally have his moment and be solidified as a Celtics legend forever was incredible.

Now, after all this time, the current generation has arrived at their own moment.

Watching Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have their Paul Pierce moment tonight feels just like it did back in 2008. They too are now cemented as Celtics legends forever. Watching Al Horford finally get his ring was about as emotional as it gets. 

A lot can happen in life over the course of 16 years. Maybe you're a younger stoolie and you were in grade school the last time something like this happened. I was a 21 year old senior at ASU living in our college house getting ready for the fakest year of school in the history of education. Safe to say, things are a bit different now. But you know what? This feeling? The emotions of watching each player get their ring and then collectively raise the banner to the rafters? It all feels the same despite being 16 years apart. In fact, I'll go as far as to say it's even better.

They did it. They actually did it.

And now that the rings have been delivered and Banner 18 has joined the other 17 for the rest of time, we can now officially close the book on what was truly one of the most dominant wire-to-wire seasons in NBA history by pretty much every metric. The time has come to once again start over and climb back up the mountain.

This time, it'd be great if we didn't have to wait another 16 years for Banner 19. I don't want to come off as selfish, but I think 8 months is more than a fair compromise.