\u201c(The free agency process) was fairly quick, honestly,\u201d Conley said Tuesday in his introductory news conference. \u201cBut the main reason, you look around the league, there\u2019s very few organizations and teams that you look at that honestly are trying to win every year. The culture here in Boston speaks for itself. You know the championships, the banners, the fanbase \u2014 all that encompasses all of that. So looking around, I was like, \u2018Man, what opportunities are out there for me?\u2019 Boston was a real one, and having an opportunity to play for such a storied franchise \u2014 Joe (Mazzulla) and Brad (Stevens) and all the team, the guys, the players to the staff (are) A-1, top-notch.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have an opportunity to be a part of it and contribute to that and do what I can to help try to get that goal of the championship, which would be my first opportunity to try to do that, I just want to try to do it here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conley mentioned that fact \u2014 that he\u2019s never won an NBA title \u2014 multiple times during his presser, noting that fellow Celtics newcomer Paul George<\/a> also is ringless. Conley has played in three Western Conference finals, including back-to-back trips with the Timberwolves in 2024 and 2025, but has never reached the NBA Finals since turning pro way back in 2007.<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever I think of Boston, I think of a winner, a winning culture,\u201d he said. \u201cSince I was a kid, it\u2019s been that way, since I was in the league. I was part of the league when (Kevin Garnett) and them guys won, and (Rajon) Rondo and them, and obviously the last one they won a few years ago. So yeah, you just think of that immediately. And like PG said, when you walk into the building, there\u2019s a sense, there\u2019s an atmosphere, there\u2019s something that\u2019s just a little bit different, and you find yourself in there two, three hours, not realizing you\u2019ve been in there working that much, and it\u2019s just a part of the culture.\u201d<\/p>\n Most pundits do not view these Celtics as championship contenders after a turbulent offseason in which they traded one of their top stars, Jaylen Brown, for the older and injury-prone George.<\/p>\n Conley, though, said an NBA title should be their goal this season \u2014 and that it will be on players like himself and George to add \u201curgency\u201d to that pursuit.<\/p>\n As for what else he\u2019ll provide as a soon-to-be 39-year-old whose numbers dipped significantly last season (4.5 points and 2.9 assists per game on 33.5% shooting), Conley said he\u2019s confident he can still contribute on the court. It\u2019s likely, however, that his greatest impact will come off the floor, where he can help replace the likes of Brown and Al Horford (who departed last offseason) as a vocal leader<\/a>.<\/p>\n He\u2019ll certainly bring experience. His 1,226 career games (including 1,143 starts) rank fourth among active players behind LeBron James, DeMar DeRozan and Jeff Green.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been impressed just being in the building for the last few weeks,\u201d Conley said. \u201cThere\u2019s so many things I\u2019ve learned. I\u2019ve learned a lot about the culture around here, a lot about how things operate on a whole different (level) than I\u2019ve even operated as a player throughout my 19, 20 years. So, a lot to take from that. At this stage, at 20 years, you want to say you feel the same as you did when you were younger. But you grow. As you get older, you understand what you can bring at different points of the year.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve still got a lot left. I still can do it on the court, off the court. Leadership is one thing I know I can bring, and the urgency that even myself and Paul have to bring to this team as two guys that haven\u2019t had a chance to win a championship yet. So it\u2019s that sense of urgency that maybe reignites that for the guys who have already won it to kind of continue to push them every day and continue to show them how we want to win, at practices, and try to translate that to games.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Mike](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/lticsnl08.jpg\")
Mike Conley Jr. answers questions from the Boston media during a press conference Tuesday. Nancy Lane\/Boston Herald<\/p>\n