Cigars, champagne and ski goggles: Inside the Celtics' unforgettable locker-room celebration

Some of that beer may have reached owner Wyc Grousbeck, who stops puffing from his victory cigar to conduct a couple interviews with print and TV reporters. His blazer and white button-down are drenched. Boston's most popular sports owner, the man who recently declared he will "be paid in parades.” is literally soaking it all in.

Meanwhile, the Larry O'Brien trophy pings around the room, like the ball on a second-half Celtics possession in Game 5. The Celtics are still in a flow state. But Derrick White turns into an out-of-character ball stopper.

He grips the trophy with both hands curled underneath its base and leans old Larry against his chest. White won't let go for minutes. Not for pictures or interviews or the passersby he greets with his eyes and a smile, flashing his newly chipped front tooth. His grip stays tight.

Perhaps White has taken one of the locker-room mantras a little too seriously. At the front of the room, above the white board where Mazzulla scribbles his halftime adjustments, three words are engraved: Every Possession Matters.

Below, a more important message now lives half-erased: noon flight to Miami. The Celtics' plane leaves tomorrow.

First-round rookie Jordan Walsh looks ready for South Beach. He has two unlit cigars poking out of his mouth, while ex-Celtics forward Grant Williams, who has the undistinguished honor of being traded by both Finals teams in the last 12 months, pops in. So does Harry Giles III, a 2017 first-round pick, two-way player with the Lakers and longtime friend of Jayson Tatum.

Then Porzingis returns and submits to an interview in Spanish for ESPN. Like Porzingis, backup center Luke Kornet meets with reporters in the middle of a champagne storm. He patiently takes questions for more than five minutes, bending over each time to listen amid the surrounding noise, then stands back up while delivering a thoughtful answer.

Kornet describes the night as an out-of-body experience.

The party rolls on, close to 1 a.m., but it's announced the media must leave. The Celtics will continue dancing and drinking, hugging and holding the trophy all by themselves, long into the night and later this week.

Even for the most storied franchise in NBA history, the taste of victory is still sweet. And the smell, of course, is a lit cigar.

How about the color? There's no question.

For the 18th time, it's Celtics green.