Boston Celtics
A wistful welcome back to two beloved players of Celtics’ past, capping a nostalgic weekend of winning and winter weather.
Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
No one or nowhere does nostalgia quite like New England, and we have been indulging for the past few days.
South Shore, North Shore, down the Cape, the islands, MetroWest, Boston, way inland, and even neighboring states: We are all sitting in multiple inches of snow and celebrating a comeback championship with the Patriots clinching the AFC title, just like the good old days.
We are back to who we are and what we know while appreciating the moment and anticipating what’s ahead.
That is the sweet spot of nostalgia.
But if that alone doesn’t tug enough on the heartstring, take a look at Jrue Holiday and Rob Williams together on the floor.
Williams stepped out in style, representing his team with pops of red, and then stepped onto the parquet to a robust round of applause. Owner and lifelong Celtics fan Bill Chisholm stood to clap and honor the moment.
Several years have passed since Williams played on our home court, but sideline reporter Abby Chin asked the right question: “What is time to the Time Lord?”
We don’t know, but one may surmise from the choice of tote that Williams understands how to use time as a construct to make sense of life and as a tool for expression.
Why else would he choose this very specific Goyard Paris “Boston 50” travel bag? We won’t say he’s homesick, but the sentimentality hits hard here.
That said, did anything hit harder than the Jrue Holiday tribute video … maybe other than the storm’s aftermath?
The crowd paused to honor Holiday, while at home we saw split-screen shots of players mentally going down memory lane. The montage had it all, including the pivotal moments that propelled Celtics to its most important win in nearly two decades.
The iconic Game 3 steal helped the team secure Banner 18, yet the iconic fluorescent basketball shoes may have stolen the show.
Yellow, which Holiday wore again Monday night in the tunnel, experienced a rise in popularity during the past few seasons of fashion, following a similar track as Holiday when he joined the lineup — already powerful and popular, but definitely enjoying a bump when placed on the right platform.
Yellow became a zeitgeist color in the late 2010s as “Gen Z Yellow” — a hopeful replacement for outdated shades of pink and grey. Then a few years later, yellow began showing up on influencers and celebrities, in home decor, all manner of accessories, and on fashion runway shows before making its way to 2025 “it” color status.
While yellow remains chic today in 2026, some trend reports indicate it will soon be sunsetted. The color, like beloved players Holiday and Williams, will make its way towards becoming a relic that fans will forever remember fondly.
However, New England doesn’t just remember. It replays. Seasons cycle. Teams return. Snow falls. Banners rise. Players come back. Titles hang.
This week happened to have it all: the snow, the ovations, the tributes, the wins, and even fashion became part of how we marked time and experienced nostalgia.
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