Boston Celtics Jrue Holiday helps deliver Boston a banner

Boston traded for Jrue Holiday the night before training camp started. Months after the Celtics traded fan-favorite Marcus Smart, the Celtics got their new defensive ace and leader in Holiday.

In his introductory press conference, Brad Stevens admitted that Boston wanted Jrue Holiday for “a long time.” Holiday talked about how Joe Mazzulla immediately got in contact with him after the trade went through. “Right when I got traded, Joe was the first person sending me clips. What to do on pick-and-roll defense or how to run the offense,” Holiday said.

Those early conversations seemed to have paid off as Holiday all postseason was up to the challenge of guarding the opposition’s best players, whether it was Tyler Herro, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Tyrese Haliburton, Luka Doncic, or Kyrie Irving. Holiday showed once again why he’s considered one of the best defenders in the league.

But it wasn’t just his defense that made Holiday shine in the playoffs and especially in the NBA Finals — it was his offense. Mazzulla and the coaching staff found a weakness in the Dallas Mavericks defense and Holiday exploited it time and time again. CelticsBlog’s Adam Taylor did a deep dive on the Celtics using the dunker spot to get open looks for Holiday and his teammates.

In the Game 4 loss, Holiday missed a ton of layups which led to transition points for the Mavericks and the misses didn’t allow the Celtics to get into an offensive rhythm. In Game 5, however, Holiday was making it look easy going from the dunker spot to the free throw line drawing out the defenders and either making a play on his own or finding his teammates for open looks.

Holiday scored 15 points (7-of-14 from the floor), grabbed 11 rebounds (4 offensive), and dished out four assists in the closeout game. The ultimate team player doing what was needed and rarely forcing the issue.

Holiday became the only player to win a championship in his first season with two separate franchises.

After the game, when NBC Sports Boston’s Brian Scalabrine and Eddie House were talking to Brad Stevens, Holiday went up and thanked Brad Stevens for bringing him to Boston.

Not only did Stevens bring Holiday to Titletown, but he also extended him keeping Holiday in the Green and White for the foreseeable future.

Holiday during his postgame presser, talked about how he wants this team to be remembered. “I hope that when people watch us play, they see the joy that we play with, that we love playing together, and we got it done together,” Holiday said.

Throughout the 82-game regular season and the 19 postseason games, it was clear that this team loved playing with one another and wouldn’t let the media or fans divide them.

When asked about winning a championship with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, Holiday talked about how this title could lift the “burden off of their shoulders.”

“They get scrutinized so much. They get so much pressure on them for not winning or getting to the Eastern Conference Finals… People are finally seeing the relationship that they have. They see that from the beginning they always did it together,” Holiday said. “… It’s been a great thing to experience.”

Jrue accomplished what he was brought here to do and now becomes an honorary member of those Jays.