Will Celtics keep Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum together after another year ends in disappointment?
BOSTON -- Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have been chasing championships together for six years, but have yet to achieve their ultimate goal. The latest shortcoming was Monday night, when the Celtics were blown out at home in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, ending their season in ugly fashion.
Naturally, such a poor showing in a major spotlight is bringing about all sorts of questions. Chief among them: Should the Celtics keep their superstar duo of Tatum and Brown together?
WBZ.com's Michael Hurley said that as painful as Game 7 was, the answer should still be yes.
"I feel like the answer is still yes," Hurley told Paula Ebben on CBS News Boston. "I know that their story going back to the 2018 playoffs is underachievement or coming up short. They lost Game 7 to Cleveland back when Tatum was a rookie, they lost at home in the Finals last year, they lost this one. They have a lot of losses, but this is still a star-driven league, and you still aren't anything if you don't have your stars."
This year's loss was largely driven by Tatum's early ankle injury and Brown's inability to step up to replace Tatum as the on-the-floor leader. Still, the Celtics would have trouble improving by using that as a reason to say goodbye to Brown.
"You aren't going to get better by getting rid of one of them," Hurley said. "I think you have to hope that they continue to progress. I know that's hard to stomach. But they are still relatively young, and they still have a lot of talent. So I think if you're the Celtics you have to just hope that this is another progression, as painful as it may be."
One place the Celtics could make a needed change? Hurley said the head coach should be replaced.
"I would lean toward no," Hurley said when asked if Joe Mazzulla should be the team's head coach next season. "He seemed to be a little obstinate and stubborn in his beliefs, the threes being the worst. At that point, you're 0-for-10 from three, you've got to change the strategy. And I don't think he has the creativity to learn on the fly to change the strategy. It was just, 'This is what we do, and if it doesn't work, we lose.' I don't think that's going to win any championships."
