It is not just Hall of Fame Boston Celtics small forward Paul Pierce from the 2008 title team that thinks this iteration of the Celtics is going to be a problem for their peers around the NBA. Fellow Banner 17 alum and current Boston broadcaster Brian Scalabrine is of the same mind as his former teammate on just how good he thinks Boston is going to be in the 2026-27 NBA regular season. "I'm bullish on them in the regular season," said Scalabrine in a recent interview for the NBC Sports' "Fanta in 60" show.

White Mamba (as he has been called as a nickname) did admit the postseason is still something of a mystery to him. "Since there's no Jaylen Brown, (with Jayson) Tatum on his own, it's like a whole new group," he said. "So I haven't seen them face adversity, and that's how I gauge that. I just know this (is) by far the deepest team in the NBA; (I'm) super bullish on them winning regular season games."

"The NBA season is set up like this," Scal continued. "There's 11 to 15 games that you're supposed to lose, back-to-back, scheduled losses, cross-country flights. I feel like they're going to win most of those games, and when you do that, you end up having a good season."

"I have a feeling they'll have the number one seed in the East, because when you watch them play, they wring out every ounce of talent from 1 to 12," he said. "And I'm not kidding – all 12 of those guys could start at any point."

"And you can bring maybe anybody on the team out for a game or two, which happens a lot in the NBA, and they will keep that thing running. Tatum is the one superstar that they'll rely on. They need him to be out there, and they need him to be great. And if that happens, I do think they'll have the best record in the East."