Hornets Head Coach Explains Celtics' Remarkable Success This Season

Hornets Head Coach Explains Celtics' Remarkable Success This Season originally appeared on NESN. Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Perhaps no NBA team lost more talent last offseason than the Boston Celtics, who parted ways with Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kornet and Al Horford. They also lost Jayson Tatum to injury.

And yet, they've still been one of the best teams in the league this year, going 41-21 with the NBA's second-best net rating.

While many fans and media members were caught off guard by the Celtics' success, numerous players, coaches and opponents have said that they aren't surprised, citing the team's championship culture and standard.

Charlotte Hornets head coach Charles Lee explained why he thinks Boston's been so successful prior to Wednesday's game at TD Garden.

Charles Lee said he’s not been surprised at the Celtics success this season, so I asked him why every former Celtic says that and what we (the media/outside world) missed:

“#1 is knowing the history of the Celtics — this place is about winning and winning championships. From… pic.twitter.com/IDu3VAQrnF

— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) March 4, 2026

"#1 is knowing the history of the Celtics — this place is about winning and winning championships. From the player standpoint and from the coaching standpoint, you had a lot of people still that were part of that championship team, and so they know what it takes, on a day-to-day basis to win a game, and that competitive spirit or fire, it don't just go away because someone gets hurt — like it is always there," Lee told CLNS reporter Noa Dalzell.

"When you win a championship, you become even more hungry, more thirsty to do it again… Payton and Sam [Hauser] and JB and all those guys, and Joe and DJ MacLeay and Tony Dobbins, Sam [Cassell], they've all been there. And so they want it again, and so whoever they have come in the building, there's a standard, and the standard is to win and to play hard, and that's what they do," Lee added.

Joe Mazzulla, Brad Stevens and Celtics players have all discussed the "standard" mentioned by Lee. Mazzulla is one of the most competitive people in the league and wants to win every night, so it's not surprising that his players have followed suit.

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