AFTER his first season with Celtic, Christopher Jullien is officially Hoops daft. And in more ways than one.

The big French defender is a huge basketball fan, and celebrated the delivery of the SPFL Premiership trophy to his home last week in true lockdown fashion, by binge-watching the Netflix documentary on NBA legend Michael Jordan, entitled ‘The Last Dance’.

As a sportsman, Jullien couldn’t help but be inspired by what he saw, with Jordan’s ruthless will to win and intense discipline chiming with many of the demands that have been placed on his own shoulders since his arrival at Celtic in a £7m deal from Toulouse last summer.

That victory-at-all-costs mentality is one he sees all around the Celtic dressing room, and he is convinced that their ninth title in a row certainly won’t be their own ‘last dance’ on the Premiership winner’s podium.

"I finished 'The Last Dance' on Wednesday and it was amazing,” Jullien said. “One of the best ever.

"As a sportsman, I take a lot of inspiration from it and learn so much. You see Michael Jordan's talent, how he plays the games, his focus and the way he brings all his team-mates with him.

"I love basketball and I also have the Kobe Bryant book in my house right now - the Mamba Mentality. It goes through his life and how he plays the game. Phil Jackson, the Bulls' coach in Last Dance, features in it too. He also coached Kobe Bryant and says there are a lot of similarities between them.

"You can't watch and read about world-class athletes like that without thinking about how you can improve your game.

"They are the basketball GOATs and if you can even take a little bit from their stories, it will help you.

"The sports are different but the mentality at Celtic has to be the same. We need to be ruthless. On the field, you almost have to be someone else. That's how important mentality is.

"I remember when I first signed for Celtic that I was amazed at the mental strength of the players.

"I spoke to Callum (McGregor) and guys like that and asked, 'How can you stay at this level of success for so long?'

"To become champions is hard but to stay champions is even harder. Your opponents come stronger and stronger and you need to increase your own levels.

"What Celtic have done for the last nine years is incredible and I can't wait for more. I don't think the season just finished will be our 'Last Dance' at Celtic. Definitely [not].

"We are all determined to come back stronger and throw everything at winning the league again.

"We will keep doing that every season and teams are going to have to go hard to stop us.”

Of course, there are those who would detract from Celtic’s achievement of winning the title this time around, with former Rangers defender Gareth McAuley the most vocal in doing so.

Jullien isn’t allowing the opinions of others to tarnish his first league championship though, ranking the achievement above his winning goal in the Betfred Cup final against Rangers, and winning the under-20 World Cup in 2013 with France.

"We were 13 points clear and it's clear that we were the best team in the league,” he said.

"When the season has to end like this, then you are always going to get people speaking against it.

"For me, it definitely is a title that I am proud of. I will get my medal, I have won the trophy for Celtic and that is perfect.

"If people want to talk it down, I will just ignore it. It's always going to be like that.

"It felt good to get my hands on the trophy. It's a big achievement. To win the league and cup in my first season at Celtic was huge. We showed everyone that we deserved it with the way we played over the season.

"I am really happy right now and I felt very moved when the trophy was delivered to my house. It was a huge moment for me to win my first league championship.

"When I arrived at Celtic, I knew that I would have to become a new man on and off the field. To receive that trophy was just the perfect achievement at the end of the season.

"It was hard not to celebrate with the fans but that will motivate us even more next season.”