2024 NBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Boston Celtics Joe Mazzulla 4 Dallas Mavericks Jason Kidd 1
Dates	June 6–17
MVP	Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics)
Hall of Famers	Coaches: Jason Kidd (2018, player)
Eastern finals	Celtics defeatedPacers, 4–0
Western finals	Mavericks defeatedTimberwolves, 4–1
← 2023 NBA Finals 2025 →

The2024 NBA Finals was thechampionship series of theNational Basketball Association (NBA)'s2023–24 season and conclusion tothe season's playoffs. In thebest-of-seven playoffs series, theEastern Conference championBoston Celtics defeated theWestern Conference championDallas Mavericks four games to one, winning their first championship since2008 and 18th overall, giving the Celtics the most NBA championships of any franchise. The Celtics'Jaylen Brown was voted theNBA Finals Most Valuable Player (FMVP), after averaging 20.8 points, 5.4rebounds and 5.0assists per game. For his performances and plays in the series, Brown received seven out of the 11 votes for FMVP; the rest went to his teammateJayson Tatum.^[1]

The Celtics were seen as favorites for winning the championship, finishing with a 64–18 record, the best across the league, and quickly dispatching their opponents during their playoff run.^[2] Meanwhile, the Mavericks only became a Finals contender midway through the season after a series of roster changes, finishing as the fifth seed in their conference.^[3] The series started on June 6 and concluded on June 17.^[4] The Celtics won the first two games at home. In Dallas, the Celtics were initially on their way to a dominant Game 3 victory, but the Mavericks went on a run in the fourth quarter to jeopardize it. The Celtics nonetheless pulled through, winning the game and putting them up 3–0 in the series. The next game, the Mavericks responded with one of the largest blowout victories in NBA Finals history, but upon their return to Boston the Celtics made easy work of Dallas, winning Game 5 and claiming the championship.

After the defending championDenver Nuggets were bested by theMinnesota Timberwolves (who were later defeated by the Mavericks) in the second round of the playoffs, it guaranteed that there would be a sixth unique champion team in a row, the longest such parity streak in NBA Finals history since1975–1980.^[5] The streak continued with the Celtics being eliminated inthe second round of the 2025 playoffs.^[6]

This was the first playoff meeting between the Celtics and the Mavericks, as well as all teams from theGreater Boston andDallas–Fort Worth areas in any of thefour major North American sports leagues.^[7] It was also the third Finals appearance for the Celtics where they played a team fromTexas, as they previously did so defeating theHouston Rockets in the1981 and1986 Finals. The 1986 victory was the second-most-recent championship for Boston entering the 2024 Finals.^[8] Boston won both their meetings against Dallas in the regular season,^[9] and led the Mavericks by 14 games between their records.^[10]

The Mavericks were the fifth team in NBA history to reach the Finals and to not hold home-court advantage in any round, the last team to do so being the eighth-seededMiami Heat in2023. Out of those five, only one, the Rockets in1995, won the championship.^[11] If the Mavericks were to have won, they would have become the 11th NBA team to win multiple championship titles.^[12]

After losing the2022 NBA Finals, theBoston Celtics were defeated in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals in seven games after mounting a failed 3–0 comeback attempt.^[13] During the off-season, the Celtics were involved in a trade which sent out longtime guardMarcus Smart in exchange forKristaps Porziņģis.^[14] They also acquired defensive guardJrue Holiday while trading awayRobert Williams III,Malcolm Brogdon and two first-round draft picks.^[4] The retooled roster was once again led by the 'Jays',^[15] the longtime duo ofJayson Tatum andJaylen Brown, with support from thetwo-way backcourt of Holiday andDerrick White and rotating centers Porziņģis andAl Horford.^[2] With an offense prioritizingthree-point-shooting and a versatile roster of defenders,^[16] the Celtics dominated throughout the season, winning all of their first 20 games at home,^[17] permanently occupying the first seed position of the Eastern Conference since mid-November,^[18] and finishing with a league-best 64–18 record^[2] and the highest Eastern Conference win percentage since the2012–13 Miami Heat's.^[19] Boston set numerous records during the season, such as having the highest offensive rating in NBA history at 123.2,^[4] tying the third-best net rating in NBA history at 11.6,^[20] having the widest margin of wins between the first and second seeds in the Eastern Conference since 1976 at 14 games, outscoring teams by an average of 11.3 points per game, the fifth-widest margin in NBA history, and having the highest points per possession (1.22) in league history.^[17]

In the first round of the playoffs, the Celtics faced the Miami Heat in a rematch of the previous year's Eastern Conference Finals, and won the series 4–1.^[2] They then faced theCleveland Cavaliers in the second round, winning again in five games. Finally, after three hard-fought games and a blowout, they swept theIndiana Pacers in the Conference Finals to reach the NBA Finals.^[2] Due to injuries to key players on all three opposing teams during their run through the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Celtics' path to the Finals was considered by media writers as one of the easiest in NBA history.^[19] The Celtics had the best point differential in the playoffs at plus-10, the second-best points-per-game average at 111.4, the first being the Pacers, and allowed the third-lowest points per game for their opponents with 101.3.^[15] Even as starting center Porziņģis, who suffered a soleus strain in Game 4 of the first round, was sidelined for the next two rounds, the Celtics went 9–1 without him.^[4]

This was the 23th appearance in the NBA Finals for the Celtics, and their second in three years.^[21] Media commentators, analysts and the Celtics themselves^[2] viewed the team as in a "championship or bust" scenario, their regular season and playoff achievements invalidated if they were not to win the Finals.^[18][19] A Finals victory would give the Celtics their 18th championship, one more than theLos Angeles Lakers for the most in NBA history. Their last victory was in the2008 NBA Finals.^[21] Head coachJoe Mazzulla, who was appointed a season prior, became the youngest head coach to lead a team to the NBA Finals at 35 years old, tying him withBill Russell, who had done so for the Celtics in1969 as aplayer-coach.^[20] Porziņģis met his former team, the Mavericks, in the Finals, having played for them from 2019 to 2022.^[22]

Former MaverickKristaps Porziņģis (left) and former CelticKyrie Irving (right) faced their previous teams in the Finals.

Despite acquiring star guardKyrie Irving at the trade deadline that season, theDallas Mavericks missed the2023 NBA playoffs after finishing as the 11 seed in the Western Conference.^[23] Over the off-season, the team reconfigured its roster to center around Irving andLuka Dončić, draftingDereck Lively II andOlivier-Maxence Prosper, and signingGrant Williams,Seth Curry,Dante Exum andDerrick Jones Jr.^[24] Throughout the 2023–24 season, the backcourt duo of Irving and Dončić was praised by analysts as one of the greatest of all time offensively.^[18][15][4] Dončić was thescoring leader of the season and finished third in voting forMost Valuable Player, while Irving underwent what was viewed as a renaissance season, averaging 25.6 points on near50–40–90 shooting percentages.^[25][26] Exum and Jones Jr. provided effective3-and-Dperformance,^[26] while Lively also played a pivotal role as a big man, making theAll-Rookie second team and obtaining the highest field-goal percentage for a rookie season in NBA history at 74.7%.^[26][27] However, Dallas nonetheless struggled through the first half of the season barely above the .500 mark.^[24] Until the trade deadline in February, the team was 22nd in defensive rating, 12th in offense and 17th in net rating across the league. Irving and Dončić both missed significant amounts of games during that period due to injuries,^[28] while injuries also affected other roster pieces as ownerMark Cuban sold his majority share of the franchise in December.^[26][12]

At the trade deadline, the Mavericks made more major changes to the roster, exchanging Williams and Curry for power forwardP. J. Washington and acquiring centerDaniel Gafford. The two players would further compliment the Irving–Dončić backcourt by significantly reinforcing the team's defense into a powerhouse. The trade has been regarded as the catalyst for the Mavericks morphing into championship contenders by the next month. From March 7 onwards, the Mavericks had the best defensive rating, the 12th-best offensive rating and the fifth-best net rating in the league, and went on 16–4 to end the season.^[3] From February 1 onwards, Dallas had a 36–15 record: the second best in the league behind the Celtics.^[11] They eventually finished as the fifth seed in the Western Conference with a 50–32 overall record.^[24]

For the first round of the playoffs, the Mavericks faced theLos Angeles Clippers, who had eliminated them in two first-round series in the five years prior. The Mavericks won the series in six games.^[29] In the second round they faced the first-seededOklahoma City Thunder. The Mavericks overcame a 16-point halftime deficit in Game 6 to eliminate the Thunder, advancing to their second Western Conference Finals in three years.^[30] After defeating theMinnesota Timberwolves in the first three games of the Conference Finals with a combined total of 13 points, dropping Game 4, and winning Game 5 in a 21-point blowout,^[15] the Mavericks secured their first NBA Finals appearance in 13 years and their third in franchise history. In their last appearance in2011, the team, which featured current head coachJason Kidd as point guard, won their first and only title.^[12] Like Porziņģis, Irving faced off against his former team, the Celtics, who he played with until 2019 and faced vitriol from its fan base since then. Irving was a combined 0–10 against the Celtics since leaving Boston in free agency.^[15]

Notes

• z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
• c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs
• y – Clinched division title
• x – Clinched playoff spot
• pi – Clinched play-in tournament spot
• * – Division leader

The Celtics won the regular season series 2–0.

Note: Times areEDT (UTC−4) as listed by the NBA and locally in Boston. For games in Dallas, the local time is also given (CDT,UTC−5).

Boston'sKristaps Porziņģis returned from injury after not playing in a game for 38 days and recorded 20 points, six rebounds and threeblocks off the bench to help the Celtics achieve a 107–89 victory over the Mavericks.^[31] He became the fourth player to score 20 or more points off the bench in their first NBA Finals appearance.^[32]Jaylen Brown was the highest scorer for the Celtics, recording 22 points,^[33] whileJayson Tatum tatum had 16 points and 11 rebounds andDerrick White had 15 points.^[31]Luka Dončić lead the Mavericks with 30 points and 10 rebounds, but went 4 of 12 in three-point attempts.^[34]P. J. Washington was the next highest Mavericks scorer with 14 points, whileKyrie Irving, who receivedboos from the crowd whenever he touched the ball,^[31] was limited to just 12 points on 6-of-19 overall shooting.^[35]

Entering roughly five minutes into the first quarter^[36] off the bench for only the second time in his career, Porziņģis made eight points before forcing Dallas to call an early timeout. He then scored a three-pointer as the Celtics went on a run to end the quarter at 37–20, the largest first quarter point differential in a Game 1 in NBA Finals history.^[34] The Celtics continued their momentum into the second quarter, going on a 21–11 run^[34] and leading by as much as 29 points before Dončić went on a solo run to end the half at 63–42. Dončić left the half with 17 points, but no other Mavericks player scored more than six.^[35]

In the third quarter, Dončić opened with 10 points early on^[37] as the Mavericks went on a 35–14 run^[31] to cut the Celtics lead to eight with 4:27 left in the quarter. AfterJoe Mazzulla called a timeout, the Celtics went on a 14-point unanswered run to effectively secure their victory by the end of the quarter.^[38] The Mavericks were crippled offensively, shooting 25.9% from the three-point-line, suffering 11 turnovers and recording only five assists across the first three quarters, the fewest for any NBA team in the last three seasons.^[36][31] Boston meanwhile became the first team to have seven players make multiple three-pointers in a Finals game.^[34]

A moment of silence was held before the game in memory ofBill Walton, the two-time NBA champion—including in1986 with the Celtics as theirsixth man—and broadcaster, who died on May 27 of colorectal cancer at the age of 71. Walton's family was in attendance, and the Celtics players wore black shooting shirts bearing Walton's name with atie-dye background while their jerseys had a black band with his name on the shoulder. Celtics team staff wore pins with a similar Walton tie-dye.^[39]

Jrue Holiday led the Celtics with 26 points and 11 rebounds as Boston hung on for a 105–98 win to take a 2–0 lead in the series. Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored 21 and 18 points, respectively, with three steals each, while Jayson Tatum had 18 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists.^[40] Luka Dončić, who was listed as questionable prior to the game, notched 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, becoming the first Maverick to record a triple-double in the Finals and one of four NBA players to record one with 30-plus points in a loss.^[40][41] Kyrie Irving had 16 points and six assists, but his poor shooting was underscored by his three-point drought, as he was still yet to make one in the series.^[42]

The Mavericks were ahead throughout the entire first quarter and finished with a three-point lead, but the Celtics pulled away with an equal lead by halftime.^[40][43] Dallas was hobbled by missing free throws,^[43] while the Celtics struggled equally through poor three-point shooting, missing their first eight behind-the-arc shots and going 10 of 39 across the entire game.^[44] The Celtics kept their lead secure during the third quarter, capping it off with a buzzer beater byPayton Pritchard from near half-court to extend the margin to nine by the fourth.^[45]

During the fourth quarter, the Celtics initially pushed their lead further to 14 points,^[43] but the Mavericks in return went on a 9–0 run, capped off by Dončić recording athree-point play, to cut the lead down to five with 1:15 minutes left.^[40] Boston's troubles were further compounded by Porziņģis irritating his previous leg injury before he was taken out.^[45] Off afast break produced byDerrick Jones Jr.'s block on Tatum,P. J. Washington had a chance to cut the lead down further before White blocked his attempted dunk, allowing Brown to produce a layup on the other end of the court.^[40] Dončić threw up a difficult three-pointer with 28 seconds left but failed to make it, sealing a Celtics victory. He attributed his team's loss to his missed free throws and turnovers, of which he had eight, five occurring in the second half.^[44]

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown scored 31 and 30 points to avoid a late-game collapse and put the Celtics up 3–0 in the series.^[46] It was the second time in franchise history that two players each scored 30-plus points in a Finals game.^[47] Tatum logged six rebounds and five assists while Brown had eight rebounds and eight assists,^[48] with the victory extending Boston's playoff winning-streak to 10 and its road-game winning-streak to seven. The only other Celtic to score in double-figures was Derrick White, who had 16 points.^[49] Kyrie Irving bounced back with a game-high 35 points, while Luka Dončić had 27 points, six rebounds and six assists.^[50] Coming into the game, the Celtics were without the availability of the injured Kristaps Porziņģis,^[49] who was replaced byAl Horford and occasionallyXavier Tillman at the center position. The Mavericks, specifically Irving and Dončić, took advantage of the lack of size for Boston to attack the rim,^[51] outscoring Boston 52–36 from the area during the game.^[52]

The Mavericks came out hot, scoring nine points to force a timeout from the Celtics early on.^[51] The Mavericks heavily utilized the paint^[52] to outscore the Celtics 22–9 by the midpoint of the quarter; their largest lead in the series by that point. The Celtics bounced back with a 21–9 run instigated through plays by Brown and Tatum.^[46][51] The second quarter was defense-oriented at first, with the Celtics leading the scoring 5–2 at the halfway mark before Irving and Tatum began responding to each other's three-pointers,^[46] ending the half at a near tie.^[48] The Celtics dominated the third quarter, converting on seven of their first possessions to establish an imposing lead as Brown scored half of his points in the game during the timeframe.^[51] After Dončić made a layup to bring the lead down to six with 5:11 minutes remaining, the Celtics went on a 7–0 run to end the quarter with a 15-point lead, outscoring the Mavericks 35–19 in total.^[50]

Up until the final quarter, the Mavericks, excluding Irving and Dončić, combined for only 19 points.^[53] The Celtics initially continued their barrage into the fourth quarter, capitalized by a three-pointer from White a minute in to extend the lead to 21 points.^[50] However, the Mavericks proceeded to go on a 22–2 run, with contributions from P. J. Washington andDereck Lively II,^[52] cutting the lead down to 93–90 for three consecutive minutes, but during that time Dončić critically fouled out with 4:12 remaining.^[46] Lively later flushed a dunk to put the Celtics lead at 100–98 until Brown hit a mid-range jump shot with 1:01 left.^[50] From there, Washington, Irving andTim Hardaway Jr. each missed their three-point attempts as a foul on Tatum with 14.6 seconds left allowed him to make free throws to secure the game and avoid what could have potentially tied the largest comeback from a fourth-quarter deficit in NBA history.^[49]

As was done forBill Walton prior to Game 1, a moment of silence was held before the game forJerry West, who died earlier that same day at the age of 86. West's silhouette was the basis for the NBA logo, and he was an NBA champion as a player in 1972 with theLos Angeles Lakers and also a further eight times as an executive with the Lakers andGolden State Warriors.^[54][55]

The Mavericks avoided a sweep by the Celtics with a 122–84 blowout victory; the third largest in NBA Finals history, behind theChicago Bulls' 42-point win against theUtah Jazz in1998 and theCeltics' 39-point win against theLos Angeles Lakers in2008, to cut Boston's series lead to 3–1.^[56] Luka Dončić led Dallas with 29 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals. He scored 25 of his total points in the first two quarters, the most ever recorded by a Maverick in a Finals game at half.^[57] Kyrie Irving had 21 points and six assists,^[58] and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 15 points off five three-pointers in the fourth quarter, joiningRay Allen andStephen Curry as the only player to score five threes in a single quarter of a Finals game.^[59] Derrick Lively II had 11 points and 12 rebounds, becoming the second player to achieve multiple double-doubles in the Finals at 20 years old, the only other beingMagic Johnson.^[60]

Midway through the first quarter, Lively scored his first career three-pointer which gave the Mavericks the lead for the rest of the game.^[56] The Mavericks established a 13-point lead by the end of the first,^[61] and a 26-point lead by the half:^[56] the fourth largest in Finals history.^[60] At half, the only Celtics players who made more than one field goal were Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.^[58] The Mavericks continued their momentum into the third quarter, outscoring the Celtics by 15–7 points in the first 4:32 minutes. With 3:18 left and the deficit at 36 points, Joe Mazzulla ceded defeat by emptying his bench, which was soon followed by Dallas'Jason Kidd doing the same.^[60]

The loss was described as the worst in the Celtics' entire season, and their worst overall since the2017 Eastern Conference Finals.^[58][62] It ended a 10-game postseason winning streak and seven-game road streak, and avoided the chance of them becoming the first team in NBA history to sweep both the Conference Finals and the Finals.^[56] The 84 points they scored was the lowest tally of the entire season,^[60] while the game-high 48 points the Mavericks led by was their largest deficit. The 35 points they scored by half was their lowest in two seasons, and the second lowest in a Finals game in franchise history. Tatum and Brown finished with 15 and 10 points, respectively.^[56]

The Celtics closed out the series in a dominant 106–88 victory at home to claim the NBA championship. The 'Jays' served as the main heads of the victory, Jayson Tatum scoring a game-high 31 points with eight rebounds and 11 assists, and Jaylen Brown following with 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists.^[63] With the conclusion of the series, Brown was voted theBill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP), after averaging 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5 assists.^[1] Brown edged out Tatum who averaged 22.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game for the series.^[64]

Jrue Holiday, who had 14 points and 11 rebounds,^[63] scored the first three buckets of the game for the Celtics.^[65] After missing Games 3 and 4 with significant leg injuries which would require surgery, Kristaps Porziņģis checked into the game midway through the first quarter to fanfare. He finished with five points in 16 minutes.^[66] The Mavericks managed to cut the lead to a one-point game midway through the quarter, but the Celtics responded with a 12–3 run, powered by eight points from Tatum and Brown, to end it. Dallas once again attempted a comeback in the second quarter by bringing a 15-point lead down to nine, but Boston proceeded to outscore them 19–7.^[63] The Celtics finished the first half of the game with a 21-point lead, which culminated with Payton Pritchard's buzzer-beating half-court throw, which was the longest shot made in the NBA Finals in the past 25 years, since at least 1998.^[67][68] The Mavericks never recovered or led at any point during the game, with the Celtics extending their lead to as much as 26 points in the third quarter.^[68] The fourth quarter was dubbed a "coronation" for the Celtics.^[65]

In the losing effort, Luka Dončić recorded 28 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals. Dončić went 2 of 9 in three-pointers during the game, missing all of his first six. He was further noted for his poor defensive performance and his seven turnovers.^[65][70] Similar to Games 1 and 2, Kyrie Irving struggled with a 5-for-16 shooting night, finishing the game with 15 points. With their two stars coming up short early on, the Mavericks had no response, going 11 of 37 (29.7%) from three-point range altogether.^[68] The Celtics notably had a significant edge on the glass with a 51–35 rebounding advantage, and went 17 of 20 (85%) from the free throw line compared to the Mavericks' 7 of 13 (53.8%).^[65]

• Bold: team high
• Source:^[71][72]

The Finals was televised in the United States byABC (including local affiliatesWCVB-TV in Boston andWFAA in Dallas) for the 22nd consecutive year. This marked the first and only Finals called by the team of play-by-play announcerMike Breen, analystsDoris Burke andJJ Redick, and sideline reporterLisa Salters.^[73] This made Burke the first woman to serve as a television analyst for a major men's professional championship event.^[74] Furthermore, this was the first Finals since2006 withoutJeff Van Gundy orMark Jackson as commentators, as they were laid off after theprevious year's finals.^[75][76] Following the conclusion of the Finals, however, Redick was hired as head coach of theLos Angeles Lakers.^[77]

The Finals was broadcast onESPN Radio withMarc Kestecher andP. J. Carlesimo as commentators, as well asJorge Sedano as the reporter. This was the first Finals since2019 without Doris Burke as a radio commentator.^[78]

Game 1 was, excluding theCOVID-19 pandemic-affected2020 and2021 editions, the least-watched opening match for the Finals since2007, with its 10.99 million viewers being a 5% decrease in average viewership from the previous Finals and an 8% decrease from the last Celtics appearance in 2022.^[79] Game 2 saw a 10% increase in viewership from the first game, making it the best-performing Game 2 since2019.^[80] Game 3 received slightly less viewers than the previous game while being a 2% increase compared to its predecessor in 2023.^[81] With the Celtics holding a 3–0 series lead, Game 4 received only 9.62 million viewers, making it the second least-watched game of its kind since tracking began, only behind the 2020 edition.^[82] Game 5 closed the series out with an averaged 12.2 million viewers, giving the overall series an average rating of 5.8 and a viewership of 11.31 million, approximately a 3% decrease from the 2023 edition.^[83] Some commentators blamed the rather disappointing viewership on the assortment of blowouts which characterized several of the games.^[82][83]

Boston mayorMichelle Wu announced on June 18, 2024, the details for a parade celebrating the Celtics victory, scheduled to take place at 11:00 a.m on June 21. The team would ride the city's traditional ceremoniousduck boats starting "in front ofTD Garden on Causeway Street, passing byCity Hall Plaza and theBoston Common onTremont Street and ending onBoylston Street by theHynes Convention Center."^[90] On the scheduled day, the celebration first included a rally at TD Garden featuring the Celtics players and their relatives, organization and arena staff, season ticket holders and notables including Mayor Wu and Massachusetts governorMaura Healey. The parade then began at 11:15 a.m. and concluded around 90 minutes later. Estimates for the parade's turnout reported at least over 1 million people, with theMBTA Commuter Rail claiming ridership "on par with 5 days of regular weekday ridership condensed into 5-6 hours."^[91]

The Celtics' victory gave them their 18th franchise championship, allowing them to surpass the Los Angeles Lakers, who they were tied with since2020, as the franchise with themost championships in the NBA.^[92] The victory ended the second-longest franchise drought without a championship at 16 years.^[2] The Celtics claimed the 13th championship title this century for a team from the big four sports leagues (the NBA,MLB,NFL andNHL) based in the Boston area.^[63]

The Celtics finished with a combined 80–21 record including the regular season and the playoffs, and a .792 winning percentage, the second highest in franchise history behind the1985–86 Celtics season.^[63] Until their victory, the Celtics played more postseason games over an eight-season span without winning an NBA title than any team in the history of the NBA. With the win, the Celtics finished with the second-best postseason record (16–3) since the NBA went to four best-of-seven rounds of the playoffs in 2003, only behind the2016–17 Golden State Warriors, who went16–1.[62]

Aside fromJrue Holiday, who won a title with the2021 Milwaukee Bucks, every player on the Celtics won their first championship.Al Horford set a record for the most playoff games without an NBA championship before winning one with 186.^[92] OnlyKarl Malone has played more playoff games (193) and never won a championship.^[93] Tatum and Brown's 107 playoff games played together represent the most by a duo prior to winning their first championship in NBA history.^[63] Among the many international players on the Celtics, Horford, Porziņģis andNeemias Queta represent the first Dominican-,^[94][95] Latvian-^[96] and Portuguese-born^[97] players, respectively, to win a championship. For the coaching staff, this represented head coachJoe Mazzulla, and assistant coachesAnthony Dobbins,Amile Jefferson,D. J. MacLeay andMatt Reynolds's first NBA championship—as well as the second forCharles Lee (2021), and fourth forSam Cassell (1994,1995, 2008 as a player). It also represented the first championship for 2023–24NBA Executive of the Year Award winner,Brad Stevens, and the culmination of a ten-year rebuild that began when he originally joined the Celtics in 2013 as the head coach.^[98]

The NBA playoff pool was at a record $33,657,947 (USD), which is distributed to each of the16 playoff teams. Boston's share of the NBA's playoff pool prior to the victory was $7,202,498. By clinching the championship they tacked on another $4,856,937 in winnings, bringing their total to $12,059,435, the most a team has ever won from the postseason bonus money pool. Dallas' share ended up at $5,899,422.^[92][99] The victory triggered a contractual bonus of $1,183,200 for Holiday.^[100] In total, Holiday's achievements in his first season with the Celtics netted him around $2.8 million, which represents every incentive bonus in his contract.^[101][102]

Playing for theUS Men's Basketball team later that summer,Jayson Tatum,Jrue Holiday andDerrick White would joinKhris Middleton (2021), Holiday (2021, who did after winning with the Bucks),Kyrie Irving (2016),LeBron James (2012),Scottie Pippen (1996, 1992) andMichael Jordan (1992) as the only players to win an NBA Finals and Olympic gold medal in the same year. Holiday also joined Pippen as the only players to accomplish this feat twice. There was controversy surrounding Tatum's role on the Olympic team due to his lack of playing time.^[103] There was also some outrage from Celtics fans as co-starJaylen Brown was left off the team for conflicting reasons.^[104][105]

The following2024–25 season, the Mavericks traded away superstarLuka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers midway through the season in acontroversial blockbuster trade that was regarded as one of the most shocking and unexpected trades in American sports history.^[106] Due to this unexpected trade,Kyrie Irving's ACL tear and a litany of other injuries throughout the season, the Mavericks became the first team since the2019–20 Golden State Warriors to miss the playoffs after reaching the NBA Finals the previous season.

After winning the championship, Celtics ownerWyc Grousbeck put the team up for sale. In March 2025, they were sold sold for $6.1 billion to group led by private equity executiveBill Chisholm.^[107] The Celtics were unable to defend their NBA title the next season, making it was the seventh straight season the NBA did not have a repeat champion—the second-longest such stretch in league history. In theEastern Conference semifinals, theCeltics were upset by theKnicks in six games. In the series, Tatum torn hisAchilles tendon, putting a question mark on the future of the team with new ownership coming in and a record payroll.^[108][109]

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