Offseason workout videos are far from the end-all, be-all. In fact, I’ve been one of the first to make fun of teams posting from mostly empty gyms and roll my eyes at viral social media content hyping up new “superteams” (looking at you, 76ers!).
And yet, I can’t pretend that it doesn’t get me fired up to see so many of the Celtics players joining forces in Los Angeles to work out together ahead of training camp. We had heard stories about these meetings as Payton Pritchard discussed these workouts in an interview, but now we’ve seen pictures and videos hit the timeline.
It’s great to see Jayson Tatum, Paul George, Payton Pritchard, Mike Conley, Sam Hauser, Chris Cenac Jr., Dillon Mitchell, and others all together voluntarily. It’s not like the highlights are anything special. It’s the usual stuff you’d expect: half-speed layups against phantom defense, but it’s not about that.
What’s exciting about this is that it feels like a new era for the Celtics, and the players are all invested. We are seeing Tatum take on a leadership role in a whole new way, taking some of the young guys under his wing and trying to get everybody on the same page.
Celtics building chemistry and good habits ahead of training camp
In past years, we’ve gotten plenty of great Celtics offseason updates, but we haven’t seen this kind of camaraderie from the group in a long time. And I get it. People have their own lives and agendas, and a lot of guys have been busy with other commitments. I mean, Tatum was rehabbing a serious injury all last summer, and for years before that, he was playing for Team USA.
The idea that the players weren’t hanging out and bonding for the cameras in past summers certainly never bothered me, but now that it’s happening, it’s hard not to appreciate it as a fan and get excited. They’re building team chemistry, creating a natural hierarchy, and it just shows a level of commitment and caring that may be overblown, but is still reassuring.
The fanbase is fired up and angry about the way the last two seasons ended and some of the roster changes, and it’s good to see that the players are motivated and locked in weeks before preseason even starts.
At the end of the day, is this going to be the difference in the Celtics winning a championship or not? Probably not. But at the same time, as the league gets increasingly competitive and the margins get thinner and thinner, every little edge helps, and it’s great to see Boston doing everything they can to gain an advantage before the season starts.
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