Celtics 2024 championship parade: Live updates and best moments

Celtics 2024 championship parade: Live updates and best moments originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Head coach Joe Mazzulla has already started preparing for the 2024-25 season. But for a majority of the 2023-24 Boston Celtics, it’s time to celebrate.

The Celtics are holding their championship parade in Boston on Friday, capping off a week that began with them defeating the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals to win their 18th championship, the most in NBA history.

The parade kicks off in front of TD Garden at 11 a.m. ET, and it should be quite the party in the streets of Boston as the city celebrates the Celtics’ first title since 2008 and the region’s first “Big Four” professional sports championship since February 2019 after the New England Patriots won Super Bowl LIII.

NBC Sports Boston will have full parade coverage throughout the day, beginning with exclusive interviews with Celtics players inside the Garden and continuing with live footage of the rolling rally. Below is a roundup of the best moments from before, during and after the parade:

11:58 a.m. ET: Celtics sharpshooter Sam Hauser went undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft. Now he’s an NBA champion.

11:55 a.m. ET: Head coach Joe Mazzulla wore a great shirt featuring Celtics legends Red Auerbach and Bill Russell celebrating a championship in the 1960s. It was a fitting choice, as Mazzulla just became the youngest head coach since Russell in 1969 to win an NBA championship.

11:50 a.m. ET: Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown received massive ovations as their duck boats began their journey down the streets of Boston.

11:45 a.m. ET: Legendary NBC Sports Boston play-by-play announcer Mike Gorman is soaking it all in after the Celtics sent him into retirement with a championship.

11:30 a.m. ET: You didn’t think Mavs star Luka Doncic would be spared from the wrath of Celtics fans, did you?

11:15 a.m. ET: Jayson Tatum threw shade at the Miami Heat during a pregame interview with NBC Sports Boston’s Brian Scalabrine inside TD Garden:

10:45 a.m. ET: Kristaps Porzingis is ready to party.

10:45 a.m. ET: Al Horford showed up wearing a shirt featuring a photo of Tom Brady living it up at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ Super Bowl parade back in February 2021 — and Brady approved.

10:25 a.m. ET: Jaylen Brown kept the receipts.

The 2024 NBA Finals MVP strode into TD Garden wearing a shirt that read “State Your Source,” in a nod to a post he made on social media in late May calling out ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith for claiming that some people believe Brown isn’t marketable because he has a big ego.

10:15 a.m. ET: Celtics guard and half-court buzzer-beater specialist Payton Pritchard paid homage to his alma mater of Oregon with his parade attire.

10:10 a.m. ET: Luke Kornet’s pre-parade interview with Abby Chin didn’t disappoint, as the affable big man reflected on being a part of his first parade, lamented about not bringing sunscreen and admitted he puts maple syrup (!) in his coffee:

9:55 a.m. ET: Abby Chin caught up with guard Derrick White, who showed off some new dental work after his nasty fall in Game 5 and gave a shout-out to his sponsor, Sam Adams: