There are some strong early signs that these Boston Celtics are getting along much better than last season's squad.
And the fans are already noticing.
Donnie Wahlberg is one of those fans. The former "New Kids on the Block" member and brother of Mark Wahlberg has been a courtside regular at Celtics games over the years, giving him a literal front-row seat to how the Celtics interact during games.
Joining NBC Sports Boston's Chris Forsberg and Celtics big man Enes Kanter on the latest episode of "The Enes Kanter Show," Wahlberg admitted the vibe on the bench this season is like night and day compared to last season.
It's so different than last year. We went to third game of the season, my son and I, in New York (against the Knicks), and the team was having so much fun. They're laughing on the bench and enjoying each other's company. I went to a lot of games last year, there was not a lot of joy in Mudville last year. It was very sad.
Boston Celtics
The Celtics overhauled their roster in the offseason, letting Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Marcus Morris, Terry Rozier and Aron Baynes walk while bringing in Kanter and Kemba Walker. This group may not have as much collective talent as the 2018-19 team, but Wahlberg believes that overhaul of the locker room was necessary after Boston's second-round playoff exit last season.
"Last year was like this awful breakup was happening right when we all fell in love," Wahlberg said. "We found out the love of our life was cheating on us. ... We kept wanting to wake up from this nightmare."
Hear more from Wahlberg and Kanter on Episode 4 of "The Enes Kanter Show," which drops every Wednesday on YouTube and the NBC Sports Boston podcast network.
Don't miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Celtics-Heat, which tips off Wednesday at 7 p.m. with Celtics Pregame Live, and then Tommy & Mike have the call at 7:30 p.m. You can also stream the game on the MyTeams App.