Barks and Bajas: The keys to the Celtics' championship mentality

Hang around the Boston Celtics long enough and you’ll invariably hear some barking.

Maybe it’ll occur when Kristaps Porzingis huddles up the team pregame and asks, “Where my doggies at?” Maybe it’ll happen when Luke Kornet skies for a tip-in, and Derrick White gets all the dogs on Boston’s roster riled up by barking in the middle of the lane. 

The Celtics' affinity for pups is longstanding. During last year’s title run, Jaylen Brown routinely asked teammates, “Where my road dogs at?” and it became a locker room query for a Boston team that thrived away from home. 

These Celtics are still road dogs. They are an NBA-best 28-7 away from home this season. What’s more, that .800 winning percentage is tied for the best mark in team history, matching the 1972-73 squad that finished 32-8 away from home.

If Brown popularized Boston's dog attendance call, he’s perfectly fine with the way teammates are co-opting it this year. 

"I didn't invent, ‘Where my dogs at?’ It's just something that we need to bring out, bring that mentality out of us,” said Brown. “Because I feel like we're at our best when — we have the skill, but when we're playing with that edge, that physicality, and that mindset that you're not going to mess with us today, I think it's better for our group.”

After Kornet started barking loudly — triggered by White doing the same — after a putback against the Blazers on Sunday night, teammates were asked about all the barking. 

“Luke’s a dog, so he just barks when he does dog things,” said Sam Hauser.

Porzingis was mic’d up for a game earlier this season when he asked his teammates where the dogs were. After some ruffs, the team broke the huddle with a chant of, “1-2-3 … Baja!” 

This reporter, intrigued by the unique huddle break, wondered if it was a playful nod to the Baha Men, who sang the inescapable hit, "Who Let the Dogs Out” in the early 2000s. It turns out it’s more likely, “Baja,” a potential offshoot on the popular “BBQ Chicken” phrase that Shaquille O’Neal popularized while dominating opposing big men around the basket. 

“We have to also keep it just for us because, it is like our internal thing,”  Porzingis initially protested. "I think it's more like us being aggressive … But it’s a Luke thing, so maybe Luke can explain.”

Added Brown: "Luke heard it from me. I think he'll tell you that. But I don't know where I got it from, to be honest. Like just, ‘Straight to the Baja,’ you know? Not playing around, we get straight to the Baja. That it. I have no idea what it means.

"Finish your breakfast and you go straight to the Baja.”

Seeking further clarification, we asked Kornet for the lineage of the Baja, and he suggested it goes back to his college days and a Vanderbilt teammate who particularly enjoyed the phrase. 

"So I believe the Baja originated, I think I took it from Wade Baldwin IV, my college teammate,” said Kornet. “He used to say, ‘Baja.’ To be honest, I don't really remember sort of what the origin of that was, but I kind of liked it. It’s kind of a great thing to yell out. For a couple of years now, I've been yelling it, occasionally, in games.”

Added Hauser: “You’ll catch it on film, like a couple of clips, if you have the volume on and the guy gets to the rack and you hear Luke just yell, “Baja!” Sometimes from the other end of the court.”

Kornet loves the way “Baja!” has taken on a life of its own from its humble beginnings.

"You can really let it out. And so that's been a thing for a couple of years now,” said Kornet. “JB has kind of taken it out and — going back to the fatherhood thing — it's kind of just taken on a life of its own."