Boston Celtics fans don’t forget to enjoy the regular season moments

The Boston Celtics recently clinched the number one seed in the Eastern Conference guaranteeing themselves home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. The Celtics clinched the one seed before any other team even clinched a spot in the postseason. But despite a big achievement, the mood doesn’t seem to be happy amongst Celtics fans.

We live in a time where access to your favorite team is a few clicks away on your phone, but yet it seems fans don’t celebrate the little things enough. Maybe it’s because we’re too busy arguing if Jayson Tatum is “clutch” or if Jaylen Brown can dribble with his left hand or not. Bantering amongst rival fans is more common nowadays because we have access to other fanbase pages.

I still see Celtics fans and Nets fans debate the infamous KG/Pierce trade and more recently, tweets between Heat and Celtics fans about the last two playoff matchups.

When the Celtics clinched the top seed, I looked at the comments.

“This means nothing without a trophy.”

“Time to give my hopes up because we know this team can’t maintain a lead.”

It’s ok to enjoy being happy and be excited that your favorite team clinched the best record in the conference. The NBA won’t give you a trophy for the accomplishment, but it’s perfectly normal to be happy for your team.

There are a lot of great teams that do not win championships. Understandably, fans believe Boston is only about winning titles and regular season achievements don’t matter, but to me at least, it’s important to be in the moment. I enjoy the process of team building. We’re fortunate that we have been in the playoffs every season since 2014. Sporting events often have a finite occurrence, and you never know when you’re going to experience a moment again. There are only a handful of teams that have had relative success as Boston has over the last 10 years. Sure, it doesn’t include the Larry O’Brien trophy, but there are a lot of teams and fans who wish they were in the position we’re in.

I was 12 years old, nine days shy of my 13th birthday when I saw Kevin Garnett yell “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE.” Every year since, I wanted to see the Celtics hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy again. I acknowledge being a Celtics and Patriots fan, I’ve witnessed a lot of winning, which is why soaking in moments like winning the division, and clinching the number one seed in the East is essential. Just look at the Patriots, a dynasty full of winning, then before you know it, it’s all gone and we go 4-13.

Emotions are part of sports. It’s something that is hard to describe at times — why a game holds so much weight for your well-being. There’s no better feeling than a buzzer-beater in a playoff game, but leading up to that moment it’s pure stress and anxiety. It’s moments like this that shouldn’t be forgotten just because you didn’t win the NBA Finals.

Winning a championship is hard, one of the hardest things to do in sports. In sports, you’re judged based on if you won a ring and if you did, how many in total. There are many Hall of Famers who never won a ring and are still judged by it. However, if the Celtics do win a championship whether this year or in the future, being present for each game and each win along the journey and not just thinking about the “end goal” will make the experience so much better when we see our favorite players hoist the trophy.

Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images

Being a fan differs depending on who you ask. To me, it’s about supporting the team through the ups and downs of the season. Sure, I get frustrated if we blow a double-digit lead or if I feel the team isn’t putting in effort on defense, and that’s the fan in me. But I also feel a sense of pride when I see the team play well. It’s the small things of always making sure my foot is pointing towards the basket we’re shooting at, or if we had a poor shooting quarter, I’d change where I’m sitting. All these little things may not directly impact the team. I know it doesn’t.

But it’s something I’ve done for the longest time and it makes me feel a part of the team.

Winning a championship is every team’s goal, but there are no shortcuts to the title. Every day and game is a grind which is why you see so much emotion and elation when a champion is crowned. We all want to win the ultimate prize, but don’t let the little moments and the “small wins” throughout the course of the season pass you by.