The Boston Celtics kick off the stretch run Thursday as they return to action after the NBA's annual All-Star Week festivities with the best record in the league, a new big man on the roster, a newly-anointed full head coach, and expectations of contention.

Yet, the league did not stand still, and other squads have gotten better as well. How are we feeling about this team ahead of the stretch run in terms of the players, the coach, and the team overall? In many ways, the monumental task the Celtics have between them and winning it all is not unlike an intrepid mission to explore the final frontier.

From leadership to the away team doing the dirty work so that the mission doesn't fail, the parallels between the Celtics' quest to win the 2023 NBA Championship and the Starship Enterprise's mandate are strong as the crew of the Enterprise and Boston's roster all hope to boldly go where no one has gone before.

And while we might be overselling Boston's hopes to win a record 18th banner, there is no one better to make those connections with than the New York Times' Sopan Deb, who recently interviewed the cast of "Picard," a new series in the Star Trek universe, in between his insightful coverage of the Celtics and wider NBA.

To that end, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with Deb to talk all things Celtics, Star Trek, and stretch run in a framework Gene Roddenberry would have been proud of.

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