BOSTON (AP) — After the Boston Celtics received their diamond-, emerald- and parquet-encrusted championship rings and before the franchise's 18th banner was raised to the rafters, Jayson Tatum grabbed a microphone to say a few words to the geeked-up crowd.
“Enjoy this moment together,” he told the fans who filled the TD Garden for the first meaningful Celtics game since their Game 5 victory over Dallas in the NBA Finals clinched their unprecedented 18th title. “Let’s do it again.”
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Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, center, admires his ring as the 2024 World Championship banner is raised prior to an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Boston. With Tatum are team owners Wyc Grousbeck, left, and Steve Pagliuca. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis, celebrates with team owner Steve Pagliuca during a ceremony where the 2024 NBA Championship banner was raised prior to an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
The Boston Celtics 2024 World Championship banner is raised prior to an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Celtics general manager Brad Stevens, left, looks on as the 2024 World Championship banner is raised prior to an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown admires his ring as the 2024 World Championship banner is raised prior to an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
The Boston Celtics 2024 World Championship banner is raised prior to an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
FILE - Boston Celtics basketball banners are seen in the rafters at TD Garden, Wednesday, March. 27, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
FILE - Boston Celtics fans react following the Celtics victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA basketball finals in Boston on Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds, File)
FILE - Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, center, holds up the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy as he celebrates with the team after they won the NBA basketball championship with a Game 5 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, Monday, June 17, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, FIle)
Celtics celebrate their 18th NBA title with banner-raising and ring ceremony
Celtics celebrate their 18th NBA title with banner-raising and ring ceremony
The Celtics then gathered where so many of their predecessors had and raised the “2024 World Champions” banner to the crowded rafters. Minutes later, they took the floor for the season opener against the New York Knicks and Tatum hit a 3-pointer to start the quest to become the first Celtics team to repeat since Bill Russell and John Havlicek won the franchise's 11th title in 13 years in 1969.
Six-time champion Bob Cousy and 1981 NBA Finals MVP Cedric Maxwell were on hand for the pregame ceremony, coming out to applause before Paul Pierce — accompanied by fellow 2008 champions Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen — brought out the 2024 trophy. It was placed on a table surrounded by the championship rings.
Owner Wyc Grousbeck handed out the baubles, with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver congratulating the players as they walked out between the numbers of a giant, golden “18.” Coach Joe Mazzulla dropped his knees to give the parquet floor a kiss before receiving his ring.
The centerpiece of the ring is a shamrock and “Celtics” against a field of emeralds. The top can be removed to reveal a piece of the famous floor, painted green and white with the 106-88 score of the June 17 clincher against the Mavericks. Also unveiled is an image of the championship banner, surrounded by the engraved numbers of each player on the roster.
The exterior of the ring is encircled with the years of the franchise’s 18 NBA titles. On one side is a depiction of the Larry O’Brien Trophy and the team's 80-21 overall record in 2023-24; on the other is the player's name, number and the slogan “Whatever It Takes” on a background of the parquet pattern etched into the gold.
The rings have 15 total carats of white diamonds to represent the 15 teams in the Eastern Conference. There are 16 emerald-cut diamonds for the team’s 16 playoff victories, along with the words “WORLD CHAMPIONS” on the inner bezel.
The outer bezel has 18 larger diamonds for the team's 18 titles – one more than the archrival Lakers have won in Los Angeles and Minneapolis.
The sold-out crowd arrived early to see the Celtics take the court in special warm-up jackets trimmed in gold, with 18 championship trophies embroidered on the sleeve. Some of the players paused their shooting to watch the video tracing their title journey, from the drafting of Jaylen Brown and Tatum through the acquisition of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis.
Another video featured highlights of Havlicek and Russell winning titles in the 1950s and ’60s through the pandemonium of the team's victory parade last spring.
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Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, center, admires his ring as the 2024 World Championship banner is raised prior to an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Boston. With Tatum are team owners Wyc Grousbeck, left, and Steve Pagliuca. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis, celebrates with team owner Steve Pagliuca during a ceremony where the 2024 NBA Championship banner was raised prior to an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
The Boston Celtics 2024 World Championship banner is raised prior to an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Celtics general manager Brad Stevens, left, looks on as the 2024 World Championship banner is raised prior to an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown admires his ring as the 2024 World Championship banner is raised prior to an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
The Boston Celtics 2024 World Championship banner is raised prior to an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
FILE - Boston Celtics basketball banners are seen in the rafters at TD Garden, Wednesday, March. 27, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
FILE - Boston Celtics fans react following the Celtics victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA basketball finals in Boston on Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Josh Reynolds, File)
FILE - Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, center, holds up the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy as he celebrates with the team after they won the NBA basketball championship with a Game 5 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, Monday, June 17, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, FIle)
Celtics celebrate their 18th NBA title with banner-raising and ring ceremony
Celtics celebrate their 18th NBA title with banner-raising and ring ceremony
MIAMI (AP) — Democratic nominee Kamala Harris on Tuesday said she would work to bring more funds to community banks to help Latino men secure small business loans, while Republican Donald Trump's economic roundtable aimed at Latino voters devolved into a tirade of insults against his opponent.
Harris said in an interview with Telemundo that “we need to construct a strong economy that supports the working class.”
“I know that Hispanic men often have more difficulty securing loans from banks because of their connections and the fact that things aren’t necessarily set up so that they will qualify," she said in an interview in English that was translated into Spanish. "For that reason, I’m focused on seeing what we can do to bring more capital to community banks that better understand the community so we can give them that kind of loans.”
In response to Trump's claims that she was a socialist, she said: “I'm a capitalist. I'm a pragmatic capitalist.”
Trump, meanwhile, described Harris as “lazy," railed against green energy and talked about “extreme" presidential power during remarks at his golf club in Doral, a Miami suburb.
Insisting President Joe Biden did not need congressional approval to curb illegal immigration, he said: “As president, you have tremendous — it’s called extreme power. You have extreme power."
Trump also continued to hammer Harris as “low IQ” and invoked a racist trope, calling her “lazy as hell” for not holding any public events Tuesday. She was in Washington for meetings and was scheduled for TV interviews with Telemundo and NBC after more than two straight weeks of campaigning.
“Who the hell takes off when you have 14 days left?” he asked.
The Trump and Harris campaigns see what could be an election-deciding opportunity with Latino men, who could swing the outcome in states such as Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada if their traditional support for Democrats erodes. Trump believes he’s made inroads among Latino men. Harris’ team is seeking to shore up support within the same group with the election just two weeks away.
The effort sets up a question of whether memories of a Trump presidency or the promise of new policies under Harris will do more to energize Latino voters.
”We are very confident that these policies resonate because we’ve seen them resonate in speeches and focus groups,” said Matt Barreto, a Harris campaign pollster. “It speaks to Latino men in particular about being successful and achieving the American dream.”
In 2020, AP VoteCast found that 9% of voters nationwide identified as Latino, and 63% of them backed Biden in the election. That race was defined broadly by the pandemic that shut down much of the country, whereas this year’s race has issues such as the economy, immigration, abortion rights and democracy at the forefront.
Harris said she would work to double the number of registered apprenticeships. She is stressing how she would remove college degree requirements for certain federal government jobs and encourage private employers to do likewise. Harris also wants to provide forgivable loans worth up to $20,000 each to 1 million small businesses.
During Trump's event, he sat after his opening remarks as elected officials and business leaders who are Latino praised the economy during his administration, thanking him specifically for tax cuts he signed in 2017.
Later, he claimed that he had recently seen a solar field “that looked like it took up half the desert.”
“It’s all steel and glass and wires. And it looks like hell,” he says. “You see rabbits, they get caught in it.” Trump often rails against wind power, claiming the turbines “kill all the birds” and confuse whales.
At the close of the event, Latino faith leaders prayed over Trump, his head bowed as some placed their hands on his shoulders. Guillermo Maldonado, senior pastor of King Jesus International Ministry, said during the prayer that "there’s a higher assignment for him to finish with this nation.”
During a rally later in North Carolina, Trump, who has been laying the groundwork to challenge the election results if he loses, again commented on Harris not holding any public events Tuesday. He offered this cryptic take: “I think she knows some kind of result that we don’t know.”
Looking forward to a rally in Madison Square Garden on Sunday, he said, “We want to close it out with beautiful bang,” noting there was more campaigning to come.
Both campaigns were jockeying for an edge with the increasingly diverse electorate in the closing weeks of the campaign. Harris has also focused on Black men, to whom she also pitched the forgivable loans for small businesses. She went on the podcast “Call Her Daddy” to appeal to younger women, while Trump has appeared on podcasts to target younger men.
In a close race, the Harris campaign is betting that Latino men are getting more attuned to policy specifics as the election draws closer.
Based on focus groups, Barreto said the Harris campaign found that Latino men in particular wanted access to apprenticeships that could give people without college degrees access to a financially stable career.
The latest Labor Department figures show there are 641,044 registered apprenticeships, an increase from the Trump administration, when apprenticeships peaked in 2020 at 569,311. Doubling that figure, as Harris has proposed, would put the total number of apprenticeships at roughly 1.2 million over four years.
Latino men also expressed a need for access to capital and credit to start companies, as the Treasury Department reported on Oct. 10 that Latino business ownership is up 40% over pre-pandemic levels and could keep climbing with better financing options.
Harris' running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, will be on Univision’s “El Bueno, La Mala, y El Feo,” a syndicated radio show, this week, while Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, will be interviewed this week by Univision’s nationally syndicated afternoon radio program “El Free-Guey Show.” Emhoff will also be interviewed by Alex “El Genio” Lucas on Nueva Network Radio.
Trump hopes to convince Latinos that they can trust a fellow businessman such as himself, even as he's also called for the mass deportation of immigrants in the country illegally.
“Hispanic people — they say you can’t generalize, but I think you can — they have wonderful entrepreneurship and they have — oh, do you have such energy. Just ease up a little bit, OK? Ease up,” Trump said at an Oct. 12 event. “You have great ambition, you have great energy, very smart, and you really do like natural entrepreneurs.”
Boak reported from Washington. Beaumont reported from Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press writers Adriana Gomez Licon and Stephany Matat in Miami and Kevin Freking and Alana Durkin Richer in Washington also contributed to this report.
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., attend a campaign event Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Brookfield, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris departs Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, on return to Washington after several days on the campaign trail. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
Supporters cheer before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Greensboro Coliseum, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Greensboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Supporters cheer before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Greensboro Coliseum, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Greensboro, N.C. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
Latino leaders pray with Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump as he participates in a Latino leader roundtable, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Participants pray for Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump during a roundtable with Latino leaders, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump participates in a roundtable with Latino leaders Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump participates in a roundtable with Latino leaders Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump participates in a roundtable with Latino leaders, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump participates in a roundtable with Latino leaders Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024 in Doral, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
FILE - This combination of photos shows Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, left, and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris during an ABC News presidential debate at the National Constitution Center, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a faith event at the Concord Convention Center, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Concord, N.C. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., attend a campaign event Monday, Oct. 21, 2024, in Brookfield, Wis. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
