On Monday morning, ESPN’s Hallie Grossman profiled Payton Pritchard in a piece entitled, “How Payton Pritchard became Boston’s unlikely iso king.” In the introduction, Grossman recounted a story during Pritchard’s 15-point performance in Game 3 of the Celtics first round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers. He turned to the sideline to see 76ers legend Allen Iverson sitting courtside where AI uttered a sentence that was not only a reaction to the moment, but maybe just a proclamation of the future.
“You’re the coldest white boy I’ve ever seen,” Iverson said, high praise coming from one of the best undersized guards in NBA history.
It feels like divine intervention that this incredible quote dropped before Boston’s game against the Bulls because Pritchard made AI look like Nostradamus with his play. The “coldest white boy” finished with 28 points, 4 assists, and two steals on 10-16 shooting from the field and 7-10 shooting from three.
When asked about Payton Pritchard’s “heat checks” when he has things rolling, Joe Mazzulla decided to highlight his all-around game instead. “I don’t really consider those heat checks for him because he’s that good of an offensive player,” Mazzulla said. “He’s another guy that impacts winning in different ways. Tonight, you saw the scoreboard…But he’s been making plays defensively, his assists, his ability to make plays on both ends of the floor, so even if he’s not scoring, he’s still impacting winning at a high level.”
Pritchard was asked about Mazzulla’s reactions to his “heat checks” by saying, “I work on those shots, so it doesn’t really feel like a bad shot, and obviously it’s not if it goes in.” We know Pritchard practices these shots based on his offseason training routine, where he starts his day at 6:45 am at a local high school gym in Cape Cod with no air conditioning.
“There’s just something about a humid gym,” Pritchard said, as he talked about the gym he used to work out in back in West Linn, Oregon that could reach up to 120 degrees in the summer. Pritchard said he loved the muck and that includes his competition. He recruited Division 2 and Division 3 college basketball players, international players, and hometown friends to play against. He would pay for them to drive down or fly across the country to the gym because he wants them to be hungry and give him their best one-on-one defense.
For two hours three times a week, Pritchard and his practice squad will go at it during the summer. Pritchard allows them to take breaks, but he doesn’t and will even buy them all Chipotle if he shoots under 60% on the day. That is the level of training that gets him ready to put up big-time performances like he did on Monday against the Bulls.
Pritchard’s third quarter was an electric sight to behold as he took over as the Celtics number one option after Jayson Tatum picked up his fourth foul of the game. At the 7:15 mark of the third quarter when Tatum checked out, Pritchard led the Celtics on a 31-11 scoring run over the Bulls to end the quarter. His biggest highlight was an isolation step-back three over Buddy Hield, who he crossed out of his shoes. The Bulls called a timeout, the Boston bench was going crazy, the TD Garden crowd was alive.
Payton Pritchard reminded everyone that he is that guy. Pritchard finished the third quarter with 19 points on 7-8 shooting from the field and 5-5 from three before subbing out for the rest of the game.
Pritchard’s big third quarter gave us a chance to see new free agent signing Mike Conley make his Celtics debut to start the fourth quarter. Ever since Media Day, it feels like Mike Conley and Payton Pritchard have been linked together at the hip. Pritchard has spoken in the past about what it was like working with Conley this offseason. In the ESPN article, Conley was asked about his thoughts on Pritchard who he called “a menace.”
“He’s an absolute crazy person when it comes to trying to improve his game,” Conley said.
In his first minutes in green, Conley finishing with 6 points and 2 steals on 2-2 shooting from three in 7 minutes of play. When asked about Conley postgame, Pritchard joked by saying, “I was telling him, like one of the back taps he had, I’m like he looked like a DB still. He’s just a freak.” He also praised Conley for being a great veteran presence, saying, “Such a good vet to be around, and somebody I am always pulling for regardless…for me to have somebody like that in my corner, it’s big.”
The ESPN article finished with a quote from Pritchard that is a testament to all of the hard work that he has put in, “I can’t wake up and be Wemby.” It’s a simple quote but it’s a real quote. Pritchard is listed at 6’1” and has had to deal with a lot of different circumstances with the Celtics over his seven years in Boston.
He has gone from a reserve guy, to asking for a trade out of Boston, to NBA Finals buzzer beaters, to winning Sixth Man of the Year and to having a career season in 2025. Pritchard’s ability to outwork everyone else on the court at his size has led him to becoming the elite player that he is today and he is in store for what could be the best season of his NBA career.
