On Monday evening, the Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks by a score of 106-88 to win Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

They have now captured their first NBA Championship since the 2008 season when Paul Pierce was still on the roster.

After the game, Pierce sent out a post on X that had over 23,000 likes and 450,000 impressions in less than three hours.

Pierce wrote: “Congratulations to the 23-24 NBA Champions My Boston Celtics”

Pierce then sent out several more posts with his reaction.

Pierce’s second post: “What can they say now ☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️☘️🥲🤪🤪🤪🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳”

Pierce’s third post: “Gas up the Duck Boats”

Pierce’s fourth post: “Omg Jaylen Brown what a year love u little bro from one finals MVP to Another wow”

The Celtics had an incredible year where they were also the first seed in the Eastern Conference with the best record in the NBA (64-18).

They beat the Miami Heat (in five games), Cleveland Cavaliers (in five games) and Indiana Pacers (in four games) before beating Dallas.

As for Pierce, he is one of the best players in NBA history.

The Basketball Hall of Famer made ten NBA All-Star Games, and had career averages of 19.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.3 steals per contest while shooting 44.5% from the field and 36.8% from the three-point range in 1,343 regular season games.

In addition to the Celtics, Pierce has also spent time with the Los Angeles Clippers, Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets over 19 seasons.

Mavericks assistant coach Jared Dudley still finds pride in calling Boston his “second home” even as the Celtics have pushed Dallas to the brink of elimination.

After all, Boston is where Dudley developed into a “young man,” turning in a legendary career at Boston College in the 2000s before being taken by Charlotte in the 2007 draft.

Nearly 17 years after leaving Chestnut Hill, Dudley, 38, finds himself up against the toughest challenge he’s faced in the NBA, as a player or coach, one he is embracing.

“Everyone knows Boston fans are one of the best fans in the NBA,” Dudley told the Herald in an exclusive, after the Mavericks’ shoot-around Monday at TD Garden. “I’ve always felt ingrained (here). It’s an honor to play the Celtics.”

“If you want to win a championship you want to go against an organization like this to cement your legacy,” he added. “It’s been fun but it’s been difficult because they’re so good.”

Dallas blew Boston out in Game 4 on Friday, handing the Celtics their worst loss of the season and the third most lopsided defeat in Finals history, but still trail 3-1 in the series. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit.

Dudley said he felt “optimistic” about his team’s prospects in Monday night’s Game 5, while understanding the likelihood that Boston would come out flat, once more, was slim. The Celtics scored just 35 points in Friday’s first half, their lowest point total in any half this season.

“It’s a good nervous,” Dudley said of his team’s overall attitude after a relaxed but playful shoot-around. “You have to be on your heels to play the best, you have to be desperate which we are. We know their crowd is going to feed off them. We have to do the little stuff.”

It didn’t take long for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to make an impression on Dudley, who praised the duo in 2017 during an interview with the Herald when he was in his second stint with the Phoenix Suns.

“This team is setting itself up for the next 10 years,” Dudley said then.

He was right.

The Celtics are excelling, Dudley said, as Tatum and Brown have become “more willing passers.” The duo combined for 32 assists in Games 2 and 3, as Boston took the commanding 3-0 lead.

The additions of Derrick White and Jrue Holiday have solidified the team’s identity, Dudley said.

“The key with them is you can’t give Tatum any easy dunks off of turnovers, and you can’t give any open threes,” Dudley said. “I’d rather have White have the open three than Tatum, to get him going, because these guys are young guys, they want to play well, it’s the NBA Finals.”

“Their job is to score, our job is to make it difficult,” he added. “Even if you make it difficult, they can still make shots.”

After entering free agency in 2019, Dudley was rumored to have been interested in coming back to Boston in what would have been sort of a homecoming for the former BC Eagle. He wanted to provide his veteran presence to a championship-contending team, but the Celtics never made an offer, he said.

Instead, the San Diego native returned to southern California, joining the Lakers prior to the 2019-20 season. Dudley and the likes of LeBron James and Anthony Davis went on to win the 2020 Finals in the bubble.

Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd served as an assistant coach on that Lakers squad before he became head coach of Dallas in the 2021-22 season, Dudley’s first year as an assistant.

“Eventually I want to become a head coach,” Dudley told the Herald, “so (I’m) getting the experience with how J-Kidd goes and his game plans, his adjustments, me running the defense, helping with substitutions, getting on Luka (Doncic).”

If the Mavericks want to extend the series against Boston, Dudley said it will come down to guard Kyrie Irving finding himself. The Boston crowd relentlessly slung “Kyrie sucks” chants against the former Celtic in Games 1 and 2, when Irving combined for just 28 points.

Irving woke up when the series shifted to Dallas, scoring 56 points combined in Games 3 and 4.

“The fans are getting on him in a different way than booing. It’s personal,” Dudley said. “When it’s personal you want to be able to respond, sometimes you’re not in the right mind-frame or space, and even he’d tell you he struggled. It’s his job to find ways to overcome it.”

Dudley, on the other hand, acknowledged he has a “great personal connection” with Celtics fans and the city as a whole which he attributed to his four years at BC.

The 15-year NBA veteran ranks sixth all-time in scoring in school history, and Dudley was voted the ACC Player of the Year in 2007 and was a second team All-American.

“They know the accolades I’ve had in Boston, of showing them love,” he said. “I’ve done camps here, I’ve given back here, I’ve given to BC financially. It’s all love when it comes to Boston.”

Mayor Michelle Wu, Boston Parks Commissioner Ryan Woods, and The Skating Club of Boston are pleased to welcome children and their caregivers to kick off the 2024 summer wading season as the Boston Common Frog Pond spray pool reopens on Tuesday, June 25.

The wading pool opening is made possible by title sponsor Bank of America and presenting sponsor H.P. Hood LLC. The event will include an exciting celebration at 11 a.m. followed by the opening of the spray pool.

In addition to activities from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., residents can enjoy tasty treats and a visit from official mascot Frog Pond Freddie. LEGO® Discovery Center Boston will be on site with giveaways and a LEGO brick pit for free building with LEGO experts.

Enjoy sparkling water from Polar Beverages, local farm fresh milk from the New England Dairy Council, frozen treats from H.P. Hood LLC, and sample water flavoring packets from Cirkul. Residents can also try our instrument ‘petting zoo’ courtesy of the Boston Music Project and visit the team from PROJECT Melanoma for summer sun safety tips.

Also offering giveaways and activities will be Mass Audubon, the Boston Public Library Chinatown Branch, the Boston Public Health Commission, Science for Scientists, and the Boston Water and Sewer Commission’s popular water truck. For more information visit www.boston.gov/frogpond.

A year-round recreational facility, the Frog Pond offers ice skating in the winter, a spray pool and supervised wading for youth in the summer, and the Carousel from spring through fall. Information on additional activities offered at the Frog Pond can be found by visiting www.bostonfrogpond.com.

The Frog Pond spray pool is open daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. until Labor Day. The facility is managed by The Skating Club of Boston and staffed by youth workers from the Boston Youth Fund. For further information, please call the Frog Pond at (617) 635-2120.

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