It's a moment 16 years in the making. But when will Boston hold a parade for the Celtics' 2024 NBA Championship?
As the buzzer sounded on Monday's blowout win over the Dallas Mavericks, that had yet to be announced — no one wanted to jinx the team's quest for an 18th title banner.
"OK, we don't use the 'P-word' ahead of time in Boston," Mayor Michelle Wu said last week, before Game 4. "But should there be something huge to celebrate, we will be prepared and have announcements in the days ahead, just to make sure we are carefully planning for and mapping out all the logistics."
We asked Wu about Game 5 on Monday morning, and here's what she told us.
"Today is going to be wild. The whole city is ready, we're with them and feeling good," the mayor said about the game.
We also asked about the upcoming heat wave and how it would factor in to any celebrations, and she said there were meetings going on Monday morning at City Hall, "to talk through what the projections are and what the forecasts are, if it is likely to be above a certain threshold of the heat index for multiple days at a time."
Later Monday, Wu's office declared a heat emergency in Boston, triggering cooling centers and other measures to keep the population cool.
"It's also the last week of school in the Boston Public Schools, and so there's some half days, and we're thinking about how that affects students who might need a full day of support as well," Wu said. "So we'll have more to come probably very shortly on that front."
PHOTOS: The Boston Celtics are NBA champions again!
What's the forecast this week in Boston?
It's going to be hot all week, potentially dangerously hot. A heat wave is expected to start Tuesday and last at least through Thursday, if not Friday.
Thursday may tie the day's record of 98 degrees.
As of early Tuesday, the heat emergency did not extend to Friday, though Boston's forecast was showing a fourth straight day with a high temperature in the 90s.
Reports on the Boston Celtics' championship parade trickle out
And according to Boston Globe columnist Gary Washburn, as well as other reports, Friday is when the parade is expected — though there was no official confirmation from the team or the city.
Finalized details on the parade were expected to be shared as soon as Tuesday.
