Celtics workout photo, explained: Why NBA fans think Boston cursed Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and more
The Celtics are on top of the basketball world right now. After a historic run to the 2024 NBA title, Boston is off to a hot start to the new season and the franchise has a content team that rarely misses, if ever.
Monday, however, the Celtics social media team might have turned in a rare miss with a post that immediately evoked memories of other franchises’ misfortunes. It didn’t take long for fans to notice, either.
What did the Celtics post? Here is why fans fear an innocuous photo of Jayson Tatum may signal Boston’s downfall.
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Celtics workout photo, explainedThe Celtics moved to 9-2 on the young NBA season with a win over the struggling Bucks Sunday. Late Monday morning, the franchise took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a photo of Tatum’s postgame workout.
The copy of the post reads “The work doesn’t stop when the final buzzer sounds,” and it features a photo of Tatum in his game shorts while he appears to do a one-arm row with an adjustable dumbbell.
The work doesn’t stop when the final buzzer sounds 😤 pic.twitter.com/bnzcId0nkE
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) November 11, 2024Among notable responses to come were several Celtics fans urging their favorite team to delete the photo. The Miami Heat’s StatMuse account rejoiced in the fact that Boston posted “a recreation of the winner’s work video” adding that the “Celtics downfall is here.”
Oh my god it’s a recreation of the winner’s work video Celtics downfall is here
— HeatMuse (@Heat_Muse) November 11, 2024Oh no this won’t be used against us 😔
— Celtic Husker ☘️🎈 (@celtic_husker) November 11, 2024DELETE! This has potential to turn in to suns “winners work” video
— Matt ☘️ (@KarskiMD) November 11, 2024Well now we’re about to find out if this is just a Western Conference curse…
— Kwansah (@KKwansah) November 11, 2024MORE: How Payton Pritchard has grown into Sixth Man of the Year favorite
Heat Muse is referring to a post from March 2022 that features key members of the Suns getting in a postgame workout following a road win over the Warriors to move to 62-14 on the season.
Many view that post as the beginning of the end for Phoenix. The team closed the season by losing four of its last six games and was tested by the 8-seed Pelicans in the first round of the playoffs before ultimately losing to the 4-seed Mavericks in the Western Conference Semifinals.
In the time since, the Suns have won just one playoff series and fired two head coaches.
“Winners work” …the @suns put in extra work following their 4-point road W. 💪🏽 pic.twitter.com/Tp1qeIkApk
— NBA (@NBA) March 31, 2022Last season, the Timberwolves posted workout photos of Anthony Edwards, Rudy Gobert, Jaden McDaniels and Karl-Anthony Towns following their historic Game 7 win over the Nuggets to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
Users who felt they had seen that movie before responded to the Timberwolves, saying things like “Phoenix did this and they have never been the same,” and “Oh no this might backfire.”
After posting the photos, Minnesota went on to lose its next three games before being eliminated in five games by Dallas in the Western Conference Finals. Strike two for the postgame workout documentation.
not satisfied. pic.twitter.com/qvp1r08K2N
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) May 20, 2024The Celtics are a juggernaut and it’s far too early in the season to tell if the photo of Tatum will ultimately backfire, but if they do begin to struggle, their post from 11:40 a.m. ET on Nov. 11 may be looked back upon as a turning point.
