Feb. 20, 2026, 7:37 p.m. ET
Both fans of the Boston Celtics and the analysts who cover them did not have especially high expectations for the storied ball club at the start of the 2025-26 NBA regular season. And given the high-profile exits made via trade and free agency of Al Horford, Jrue Holiday, Luke Kornet, and Kristaps Porzingis, such an assumption was a rational one when taking into account the fact that star Celtics forward Jayson Tatum was also to miss much if not all of the season due to an Achilles tendon injury.
But if you ask Porzingis what he expected from his former teammates in Boston, you might be surprised to hear that the Latvian big man did not share those pessimistic assessments of the Celtics. “I mean, like everybody,” said KP ahead of his first game playing against Boston with the Warriors, “no thoughts, like a little bit less expectations.”
“They’re not going to be that good this year, like some of the more, most … pessimistic ones were like, ‘Oh, it’s a lottery team,'” he continued.
“But I never thought that … in our years also, whenever somebody was out, we just, it’s like the culture that they already have there,” said Porzingis.
“It’s like, you can’t just – it’s not going to just disappear, even if you maybe don’t have the (Tatum) talent. But still, you have (Brown) there leading the group, (Derrick White), (Payton Pritchard) these guys are elite players. I knew they were going to be good, maybe not first, second, seed, but yeah, I mean, (Celtics coach) Joe (Mazzulla) and that crew is top.”
Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!
Listen to “Havlicek Stole the Pod” on:
Blue Wire: https://tiny.ee/CdKp
iTunes: https://tiny.ee/RK47
YouTube: https://tiny.ee/cOW3