Jason Terry is hoping to once again turn a tattoo into reality.
After signing a three-year $15 million deal to join the Celtics, Terry once again hopes that a depiction on his arm will result in a championship.
Two years ago, Terry had a picture of the Larry O’Brien trophy tattooed on his arm, predicting his former team, the Dallas Mavericks, would win the title.
Once the post season began, Dallas finally was able to move past its post season struggles from the previous years to knock out the Trial Blazers, Lakers and Thunder.
Only Terry saved his best play for the Finals, imploring his teammates to “keep pushing, remember ’06,” referring to the championship series in 2006 when Dallas lost four consecutive games, after wining the first two of the series, to Miami.
Against the Heat five years later, Terry led the Mavericks in steals, while averaging 18 points and 3.2 assists per game, the second most on the team.
In the decisive Game 6, Terry led all scores with 27 points, scoring 10 of Dallas’ final 13 points before halftime.
Boston is hoping Terry can once again be the catalyst to knockout the Heat.
Miami has eliminated the Celtics each of the past two seasons, falling in seven games during the Eastern Conference Finals.
Jason Terry averaged 15.1 points and 3.6 assists per game last year.
The need for help at shooting guard was evident and Boston is counting on a healthy return from Avery Bradley, production from free agent Courtney Lee and a significant impact off the bench from Terry.
Shortly after his arrival in Boston, Terry guaranteed his new team would win the championship in 2013 and even modified the previous version of his Larry O’Brien trophy to help solidify his point.
Instead of the Celtics’ leprechaun spinning a basketball, atop his finger is the championship trophy, a new look Terry is hoping to transfer into success.
While Terry has never appeared in an All-Star contest, scored over 20 points per game or led the league in any major statistical category, he certainly has posted an intriguing career since being selected 10th overall in the 1999 NBA Draft.
According to BasketballReference.com, a few players with a similar career to Terry’s are Hall-of-Fame guards Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Lenny Wilkens.
Only three players have connected more times from 3-point range than Terry and he has an opportunity to become one of the best players ever to start less than half of his career games played.
Ray Allen, Reggie Miller and former teammate Jason Kidd are the only players to make more 3-pointers in their career than Terry.
In Boston, the 34-year-old guard will have plenty of opportunities to bolster a bench that is in desperate need of point production.
Miami was able to advance to the NBA Finals as the Celtics bench was able to manage just two points in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.
The minuscule production was not an aberration, as Boston averaged just 21.4 points per game, the second fewest in the league last season.
With the Mavericks, Terry served as the focal point for the third highest scoring bench in the NBA, as he averaged over 15 points per game for the seventh straight season and scoring over 20 points on 11 occasions.
Jason Terry was brought to Boston to solidify the second worst scoring bench in the league last season.
By combining Terry with Rajon Rondo, the Celtics have two players in the back court that perform at their best when the stakes are at their highest.
Rondo averaged 20.9 points, 11.3 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game during the seven game set against Miami.
Once again Terry is seeking redemption, after not even being contacted by the Mavericks after becoming a free agent this summer.
In his last meeting with the Heat, Terry managed just three points on 1-of-10 shooting from the field as Dallas lost 106-85.
Entering his 14th season with something to prove, Terry is not only hoping to resurrect the Celtics as title contenders, but prove his former team wrong for letting him go.
Even before playing one game in a Celtics uniform, he has already elevated the expectations on him and his new team.
Terry wouldn’t have it any other way.
