The Boston Celtics are currently preparing to begin the unofficial second half of their season, which begins on Thursday evening against the Golden State Warriors. The Celtics were represented at the NBA All-Star weekend by Jaylen Brown, who participated as part of one of the USA teams in the round robin tournament.
The Celtics have performed well beyond expectations this year, and recently, former NBA guard Lou Williams praised what Boston is able to accomplish in 2025-26 on FanDuel's "Run It Back" show.
"I still think Boston is the most dangerous team in the East," said Williams, formerly of Run It Back on X, on Twitter.
Co-host Chandler Parsons said, "He's exceeded everyone's expectations... Jaylen Brown has to be in these MVP conversations."
In fact, most pundits expected the Celtics to be a fringe playoff team at best this year, given that the team was playing without injured superstar Jayson Tatum, and also parted ways with Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis via trades over the summer that were mostly financially motivated.
However, as Parsons said, Brown is playing at a borderline MVP level for the Celtics this year, more than replicating Tatum's production, and he's also gotten some help from players like Derrick White and Peyton Pritchard, who have returned to form after rough starts to the year.
Hovering over all of this is the possibility of Tatum's eventual return, which looks more than likely day-to-day at some point this season. If Tatum can look somewhat like his normal form during Boston's upcoming playoff run, the Celtics will likely be the clear favorite to come out of the East this year.
In any case, the Celtics will next take the field against the Warriors on Thursday at 10:00 PM ET as they begin their trip to the West Coast.
