Why Celtics championship doesn't need an asterisk

Much has been made about the Boston Celtics perceived easy path to an NBA Championship this year. 

Their first-round foe, the Miami Heat, were missing their star player Jimmy Butler.

Their second-round opponent, the Cleveland Cavaliers, were missing their star Donovan Mitchell (and a few others too).

And in the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics were dealt an overachieving Indiana Pacers squad which, by the end of the series, was missing Tyrese Haliburton.

But this is nothing new. In fact, this has been the way of the NBA. Oftentimes, it’s not (just) the best team in the league that’s left standing, but the healthiest. 

That said, the Celtics dealt with a long-term injury to one of their starters, Kristaps Porzingis, who even missed time in the NBA Finals.

But many times NBA champions have benefited from injury luck along the path to their title.

The 1986-1987 Celtics dealt with injuries to just about every starter, allowing the Los Angeles Lakers to win the championship that year.

The Toronto Raptors earned their first title in 2019 after Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson suffered injuries for the Golden State Warriors. 

Other examples include:

1958 Atlanta Hawks (Bill Russell injury)

1971 Milwaukee Bucks (Gus Johnson injury)

1988 Los Angeles Lakers (Isiah Thomas injury)

1989 Detroit Pistons (Magic Johnson injury)

1991 Chicago Bulls (James Worthy and Byron Scott injuries)

1999 San Antonio Spurs (Patrick Ewing injury)

2015 Golden State Warriors (Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love injuries)

2020 Los Angeles Lakers (Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic injuries)

2021 Milwaukee Bucks (Kyrie Irving and James Harden injuries)

Other luck-based title factors include the layoff the Lakers had in 2020, due to Covid-19, allowing them to be healthy for the bubble playoffs. 

In 2016, Draymond Green’s suspension, and even Andrew Bogut’s injury, swung the series. 

You could point to the Houston Rockets winning their lone two titles while Michael Jordan was playing baseball. Or the teams that won after shortened seasons.

Plenty of NBA championships were won after an easier-than-expected path. So doesn't that then make it closer to the norm?

And, statistically, the Celtics cemented themselves as the league's best team this year.

 They had the best record in the league this season, winning seven more games than anyone else. 

The Celtics were the preseason favorite to win the NBA championship, won seven more regular-season games than any other team and remained the favorite following the conclusion of the regular season.

Only 14 teams can say that since 1990, with 11 of them winning the title. So this shouldn’t have been some sort of shock. 

Furthermore, the Celtics were underdogs just three times all season, which is tied for the fewest by any team to reach the Finals this century. 

And they beat a Mavericks team in the NBA Finals that featured one of the best players in the league, Luka Doncic. And yet, he failed to reach his point total (set by Vegas) in all five games. 

The Celtics are the latest NBA champions. And their path there was nothing new for the league.