The 2024-25 NBA season is here. We take our annual journey too close to the sun and challenge you to endure the heat of these views. These are hot takes that we might actually believe.

Trivia question: Who almost stopped the Boston Celtics last season?

Answer: Nobody.

The sixth-seeded Indiana Pacers, who were without All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton in the second half of the Eastern Conference finals, came closest to giving the Celtics a series. Boston didn’t take the Pacers seriously. And the Celtics still swept Indiana out of the playoffs in four games.

No NBA champion has repeated since the Golden State Warriors in 2018. And wouldn’t you know it: The Celtics posted the best regular season record (64-18), the best regular season net rating (11.6) and the best playoff record (16-3) and – before a stunning loss in game 4 in the NBA Finals – the best playoff net rating (11.2) since Kevin Durant joined a 73-win squad and formed the greatest collection of talent we’ve ever seen.

By any measure, the 2023-24 Boston Celtics were among the most dominant teams in history. Do you know what dominant teams do in the NBA? They win multiple championships. As Boston’s Jayson Tatum said on media day, “It was never just about winning one.” And if they want to win two, this is the season.

The Celtics are up for sale this fall and face a prohibitive luxury tax bill next year when Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porziņģis and Derrick White — (by far) the league’s best starting five — are owed a combined $200 million. The chances that we will see them as a unit again in the 2025/26 season are good.

They are in their last dance before a dynasty is established. We can debate the merits of a league designed to destroy continuity, but Boston has common enemies: a collective bargaining agreement that doesn’t believe in its right to exist, and a basketball world at large that doesn’t believe in it at all.

Sure, the Celtics are the favorites to win the championship again according to BetMGM, but they aren’t listening to any sportsbook. You listen to Grant Hill, who didn’t select Brown for Team USA; You’re listening to Steve Kerr, who benched Tatum for two of his six games at the Paris Olympics; and they listen to Kendrick Perkins, who publicly stated, “No one in the NBA is afraid of the Boston Celtics right now.”

You may find it ridiculous that both Tatum and Brown are upset because they weren’t among the few Americans who should be counted on for the country’s pride. On the other hand, you have no counterargument. Tatum is the defending NBA champions’ best player; Brown is the reigning Finals MVP. Turning perceived slights into motivation is what makes them great.

Tatum and Brown are 26 and 27 years old, respectively. With All-NBA talent, they are currently in their prime. Did you see the figure when they entered the camp? Brown looks like he was created by a 26-year-old Michelangelo.

Stephen Curry was 29 years old when the Warriors repeated in 2018. LeBron James was 28 years old when his Miami Heat repeated in 2013. And Kobe Bryant was 31 when his Los Angeles Lakers repeated in 2010. What I don’t think you understand is that this partnership, which has resulted in five Eastern Conference Finals appearances, two NBA Finals berths and one championship, is just beginning.

They also have by far the best supporting cast in the league. Do you know who was instrumental in Team USA’s plans in Paris? Holiday and White, who don’t seem to mind him being a fourth or fifth option. In fact, they seem more interested in being the league’s best fourth and fifth options.

Her replacement, Payton Pritchard, played on the Select Team that prepared the United States for the Olympics. He could be the best reserve point guard in the NBA. He and Sam Hauser combined to shoot 48% on 3-point attempts in the preseason. Even Jordan Walsh shows some flashes. His performance pushed Lonnie Walker IV off the roster. This team is difficult to put together, let alone rotate.

And the thing is: everyone on this team seems to like and respect each other. This is not lip service. It’s a belief instilled by a 36-year-old coach, Joe Mazzulla, whose eccentricities seem increasingly crazy and genius with every measure of success. Brown’s Olympic appeal, which some saw as an attempt on White’s selection, barely made waves. Tatum missed being with a “special” collection of coaches and teammates. For Luke Kornet, they “made it hard to want anything else.” Everyone is fully involved in a repetition. This is real.

But Porziņģis could be out until Christmasyou cry. That’s right, and the Celtics will still be good. The 38-year-old Al Horford, supported by Kornet and Xavier Tillman, is a good addition to the centers. They won the championship largely without Porziņģis. They have plenty of time to get the former All-Star into the season and get him in tip-top shape for the playoffs if they can field a five-man unit that outscores their opponents by 17.3 points per game in their limited time together Tops 100 possessions in the postseason.

But Tatum’s shot is missedyou think. He missed all four of his 3-point attempts in the Olympics and shot 28.3% from distance in the playoffs. A sample size of 142 shots. We’ve accumulated shots over his seven-year career (3,453, to be exact) that show us he’s a very good shooter – 38% of them from distance, where he often shoots alone. Tatum is shooting 39% on nine 3-point attempts per game in the preseason.

Isn’t that bad news for Boston’s opponents? Porziņģis could be ready for the playoffs, where Tatum is even more explosive. They could be better. And no one could come close to stopping the Celtics last Season.

We should ask ourselves: Who are the Celtics afraid of? They finished last regular season 14 games better than anyone in the East and seven games better than the entire league. The Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks were joined by Paul George and Karl-Anthony Towns, respectively, neither of whom ever played in a Finals. The same goes for the Oklahoma City Thunder and Minnesota Timberwolves, who have won three playoff series together since 2016. The Dallas Mavericks? Please. Boston just beat them in five games.

The only team the Celtics were afraid of last season was the Denver Nuggets. Tatum told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe: “People always ask me: When did you know you were going to win a championship? When Minnesota beat Denver, I felt like Denver was the only team that could keep up with us the best.” And the Nuggets got even worse, losing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope before Bruce Brown and Jeff Green.

No one in this NBA can stop the Celtics on their way to a second straight championship.