With these Celtics, there is so much to love on the court, and so much to predict

You may remember Kevin Garnett telling us that anything is possible. Of course you remember. It was quite noisy, very moving and, 22 years after the previous Celtics Championship, about as cathartic as the sport can be.

It's the same feeling, but in a different place and context than those Celtics fans had on Monday, when the NBA officially pressed the start button of the new season with its different media days. Remember this: KG's proclamation came after the confirmation, in the aftermath of the 2008 Celtics delirium that claimed victory over the Lakers in the NBA finals.

Monday's optimism, when the Celtics were available in the High Output studios in Canton (where they were collecting video and digital excerpts – Kyrie Irving dribbles, that sort of thing – you'll see them when streaming the games), was of another kind. that KG is this night more than 10 years.

At the advent of the season, we obviously do not have the answer in advance before declaring that everything is possible. But that does not tarnish the feeling or the hope. In any case, it increases the anticipation of what will happen. The media day is when we can believe that LeBron James will not want to launch Michael Beasley and Lance Stephenson on the moon before the end of the first game, that Jimmy Butler will someday learn to love Tom Thibodeau and become loved that Prince Minnesota and Ben Simmons will not only shoot 3 but could make a few.

It's a day of hope. Some are even realistic. And so, when you hear Kyrie Irving refuse to back down from his stated belief that the Celtics can take the wicked Dynastic Warriors in a series of seven games, and then you see a posed image of this star-studed, versatile, plain -Since five Irving's victories, Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the 16th best Sports Illustrated player in the NBA, Al Horford, finally, who can not do it, well disposed for health?

We have so much to anticipate in New England as a sports fan – there is always something fascinating on the horizon, whether it's the playoff pursuit of more than 100 wins at the Red Sox for a fourth championship this century or that Tom Brady and the patriots will straighten their ship as they always seem to do when the sea becomes rough.

But I have to admit this: there is nothing that I look forward to more in the next week or two than in the Celtics pre-season game on Friday night in Chapel Hill, NC against the Hornets. I'm ready for this season to start well since the last one ended in seven games, which was LeBron's coda as a Cavalier. In retrospect, it's amazing that a missing team at Irving and Hayward was so close to defeating the Cavs. This new start will finally allow some of us to stop lamenting the lack of touch of Jayson Tatum in the last 4 minutes of match 7. He could have seized the crown of the king, I tell you.

Of course, the Celtics were not ready to start again at that time – they needed that Irving, Hayward and Daniel Theis heal, that Marcus Smart signs up again, that Danny Ainge makes minor changes to the list (Shane Larkin will miss me, but I can not wait to see what Brad Wanamaker brings).

But dude, are they ready now? Hayward, in everyone's opinion, looks like himself before the sinking, and on Monday, he wryly noted that young Celtics players have a deeper series experience than him. . . and Irving countered the Knicks' attempts to place him on their list as a free agent waiting while talking about his happiness. . . and Terry Rozier told us that Tatum had the "I'm the man" aspect in their games (NBA TV should broadcast them). . . and Marcus Morris revealed that he had dubbed the Bench Deep Bench (BWA). . . and Brown said he had improved his "free throws, his ballhanding and his way of playing for others". . . and Smart, the deep spirit of this team, spoke eloquently about how his teammates were there for him after his mother's recent death.

There is so much to love on the court, and so much to predict.

I guess there must be a warning, that the long season can take its toll, that some accomplished players may not like their role. But the disclaimer is mandatory. The 2018-19 Celtics are loaded, and they know it.

Oh, and I almost forgot to say it, because that goes without saying, anyway: Brad Stevens will be masterful to make the most of it.

The new season is on and everything – all the great things, the significant things, the-what-we-play – seems possible with this team. They can not collect this 18th banner to accompany the one that brought such joy to KG 11 years ago. But they could. And knowing that they can do it is a hell of a place to start.

To close

The biggest titles, delivered to your inbox

Get news as you go. Sign up for Boston.com email alerts.

Thank you for your registration!