Jack Bienvenue wants to clear one thing up right away: if the Boston Celtics fall in the NBA playoffs, he knows he's going to have a problem on his hands.
But the 18-year-old, who is from Wellfleet, Mass., doesn't think that's going to happen, which is why he already went ahead and got a 2022 Celtics NBA Finals championship tattoo.
Like all good ideas, this one was rather impulsive, and stemmed from a recent conversation in math class. Bienvenue, a senior at Cape Cod Technical High School in Harwich, Mass., said his friends weren't exactly ready to get behind his take that the Celtics will not only win the Eastern Conference, but also the NBA Finals. So he put his money, and his shoulder, where his mouth is.
"I'm like, 'There's a shot,' so I went and got the tattoo just to prove them wrong," Bienvenue told NESN.com on Wednesday. "I just had that vision of the duck boats driving through Boston and everything, Jayson Tatum holding up that MVP trophy. I'm hoping it becomes a reality."
Bienvenue, who really got into the Celtics during Tatum's rookie season, got his ink at Hotline Tattoo in Hyannis, Mass. He said his artist, Taylor, was just as shocked as everyone else (including his parents.)
"He thought it was crazy," Bienvenue admitted. "Just as I thought it was. All the haters are saying 'it's dumb, it's stupid, why did you do that?' And I agree. I know damn well that it's stupid. That's not fazing me. I'm just laughing with them."
Yes, the Celtics are red-hot right now -- and Bienvenue knows that, admitting that he wouldn't have gotten the tattoo several months ago. And as for jinxing it with his tattoo? He doesn't think that will happen, either.
"I'm owning it," Bienvenue said. "So I'm sorry to the city of Boston, if we just lose in the first round, I will take all the heat for that. But I have heavy faith that that will not be the case."
Bienvenue predicted the Celtics will win the NBA Finals in a tough battle with the Phoenix Suns. And if they don't? He's already thought it through.
"That's the million dollar question," he said. "I'll take the heat for it because I definitely would deserve it ... When they win the Finals again, I'm just gonna get the two lasered off and get the number of the date that they win. So if they don't win this year, I'll wear it until they win."
