The Boston Celtics have been one of the best teams in the NBA over the last couple of decades, qualifying for the postseason every year except for one since 2008. They’ve been especially good in the most recent years, and they will make their second NBA Finals appearance in the past three years when they take on the Dallas Mavericks starting later this week.
Brown, Tatum Climbing This Unfortunate NBA List
But they’ve come up short o
Will Boston’s duo snap the streak and bring home the title? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/yD8tWiDWPS
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) June 3, 2024
n their ultimate goal year after year, losing in the second round or later in 7 of the last 8 seasons. The star duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been in Boston for most of that time, and are quickly becoming synonymous with the great players who never got over the hump and win a championship.
Entering the 2024 NBA Finals, the Tatum/Brown duo has played in 102 playoff games together since the 2017-18 season. That marks the 5th most playoff games by any two players without winning a championship. And they could climb all the way up to 3rd if things don’t go their way against the Mavericks.
The duo of Reggie Miller & Dale Davis played 105 playoff games for the Indiana Pacers without ever hoisting the trophy, and Patrick Ewing & Charles Oakley sit at 106 for the New York Knicks. If Dallas takes home the hardware this year, then Tatum/Brown would be somewhere between 106 and 109.
Stockton/Malone Duo Still Eons Away From The Others
.@LegsESPN says Jayson Tatum has more to lose in the NBA Finals than Jaylen Brown, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving combined 👀 pic.twitter.com/XnAQ4rEYLh
— First Take (@FirstTake) June 3, 2024
They’d still be a ways away from breaking the all-time NBA record, as unfortunate as it is. Jerry West & Elgin Baylor played 110 games together over 10 years before finally breaking through in 1972, but they are second on the list by a long shot. The number one spot belongs to Karl Malone & John Stockton of the Utah Jazz, who played an incredible 172 games together without winning a title, 62 more than anyone else on the list.
Malone & Stockton spent 18 years together in Utah, and qualified for the playoffs each and every time. Their most famous runs came in 1997 and 1998, when they finally made it to the NBA Finals, only to fall to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls on both occasions.
Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals will take place on Thursday night in Boston.
