Kendrick Perkins has message for the defending champs

The NBA season is set to begin October 22 with the defending champion Boston Celtics taking on the New York Knicks. Boston has the best odds, +300, to win the 2025 NBA Finals and repeat as champions. If they do they'd become the first team to repeat since the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors.

One NBA analyst believes it's not going to be as easy for the Celtics to reach the Finals and even win as it was this past season. On NBA Today on ESPN, Kendrick Perkins pointed out other teams in the East improved over the offseason and had a message for his former team.

"The New York Knicks went out and they got Mikal Bridges and they upgraded their roster," Perkins said. This is why the Philadelphia 76ers went out and got Paul George and upgraded their roster."

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The Celtics starting five on opening night will be the same starting five they put out in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. And while that starting five, along with Kristaps Porzingis who will likely be out until December, led Boston to the best record in the East by 14 games, those teams they finished ahead of got better in the offseason.

"There's a reason we're in this streak where teams haven't repeated," Perkins added. "It's hard."

If teams are to make a move to compete with the Celtics it has to be when Porzingis is out. When he and the rest of the starters were healthy last season Boston was near unbeatable. Even with Porzingis out for most of the postseason Boston dominated competition, but that's when the Eastern Conference is going to have to beat the Celtics.

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