NBA players believe Celtics will repeat as champions, according to anonymous poll

NBA players believe Celtics will repeat as champions, according to anonymous poll

We are three days into the 2024-25 NBA Postseason, with most of the first-round series across the league waiting to play Game 2. It’s still very early, but The Athletic released their annual anonymous player poll on Tuesday, where it talked to 158 total players (representatives from all 30 teams) to answer myriad questions.

One of them was who they thought would win the title outside of their own team. While they weren’t the best team in the East this season, the overwhelming favorite amongst the pack was the reigning champion Boston Celtics.

For that specific question, 137 players voted (not every player voted for every question). 79 players–or 57.7 percent of the poll–voted for the Celtics; the Oklahoma City Thunder came in second (24 players; 17.5 percent) and the Cleveland Cavaliers came in third (14; 10.2 percent).

Other teams that were voted for include: The Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Milwaukee Bucks and Minnesota Timberwolves, who had one whole vote, which surprises me (they shouldn’t have gotten any).

“Their team chemistry is great,” one player said, according to the poll. “They have a lot of superstars on that team, and they consistently know their roles, and they kind of put their egos aside and just win games.”

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Boston rolled through the East last year before downing Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks in five games, securing the franchise’s 18th-ever NBA Title. They became the 14th team to win 80 combined games in a single season, becoming the first since the 2016-17 Warriors.

No team has won back-to-back titles since the 2017-18 Warriors team with Kevin Durant. In fact, no team has gotten really that close to clinching a second-consecutive Finals berth. Each of the previous three champions–Denver, Golden State and Milwaukee–lost in their conference semis while the Lakers got bounced in the first round in 2020-21.

“I personally think Boston will pull it out because they’ve been there and they’re more experienced,” another player said. “But I think Cleveland is going to give them a run for their money, for sure. … They look really good.”

Last year’s Celtics were a historically great bunch. The personnel isn’t any different this season, but they may face steeper competition with the Cavaliers and Thunder if both teams make it far in their respective conferences.

Do you think they will repeat as champions? Let us know in the comments below!

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