Blake Griffin and Payton Pritchard met at a Los Angeles Clippers game when Pritchard was just 16 years old before they knew they’d end up teammates on the Boston Celtics.

Pritchard verbally committed to Oklahoma — Griffin’s alma mater — and then-Sooners coach Lon Kruger wanted the two to meet.

“He was super shy,” Griffin told told ESPN in an exclusive interview. “We talked for a little bit, but I mean, dude, when I say he was scrawny, I was like, man, this kid must be nasty on the court.”

Pritchard stands at 6-foot-1 and is 195 pounds, so he doesn’t have the build of several other NBA players. But what stood out was his work ethic — particularly to Brad Stevens who was Pritchard’s coach during his 2020-21 rookie season.

“He works as hard as anybody I’ve ever seen in my 20-plus years of being around the game,” Stevens told ESPN. “He’s the kind of guy that, especially when I was coaching in college, I would have to change or tailor our practice plans because I would know that he’s doing way more.

“You don’t want to take that away from him,” he added. “Because I think he’s always been a great worker. I think as he’s aged, he’s gotten even better about how to work and the right way to approach it. But he’s really got to. I mean, he’s at the highest echelon of work ethic for sure.”

Pritchard ended up going to the University of Oregon where he won Pac-12 Player of the Year and the Bob Cousy Award during his senior year. He then was drafted by the Celtics in the first round of the 2020 NBA Draft.

The guard emerged under Stevens during his rookie year, but his playing time decreased the following season after Ime Udoka took over for Stevens after he moved to Boston’s front office. Pritchard’s playing time dipped ever more in Joe Mazzulla’s first year as coach.

But this season Pritchard has really carved out a role for himself during the 2023-24 season when he averaged more than 20 minutes per game for the first time in his career and signed a four-year, $30 million extension in 2023.

Pritchard carried that momentum over into this season and has averaged 14.1 points while shooting 46.6% from the field and 41.5% from deep in 47 games.

Griffin spent the final season of his career with Pritchard on the Celtics and while he could understand Pritchard getting frustrated with a lack of playing time, the then-rookie impressed a 13-year veteran with his composure.

“I was so impressed with just his mindset and then also his work ethic,” he said.