Kendrick Perkins Has High Hopes For The Celtics, Even Without Jayson Tatum

Coming into the 2025/26 season, the Boston Celtics were a team highly overlooked around the NBA due to the season ending injury to Jayson Tatum in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. That is despite still having players like Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard and Derrick White, all coached by one of the best in the NBA in Joe Mazzulla.

Unsurprisingly, they've proved many of those doubters wrong thus far, as the team currently sit in second place in the Eastern Conference standings with an incredibly impressive record of 37-19. While many still see the Detroit Pistons as the favorite to come out of the East this season, the Celtics are a team that nobody can take lightly, and with Tatum's potential return looming, this is a team that could go very far.

Former Celtic turned ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins has now taken in a step further on his latest ESPN appearance, predicting that even without Tatum, this team is still good enough to make the NBA Finals.

While it's certainly possible, the East isn't a cakewalk, with the likes of Detroit, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Toronto making up the rest of the top-six, all of whom have the talent to take down anyone in a seven-game series.

Only time will tell whether or not Tatum returns in 2025/26 and how that will effect this team, but given their inner confidence, it's no surprise that analysts like Perkins see a big final stretch looming for Boston.