{"id":29519,"date":"2025-01-29T11:43:08","date_gmt":"2025-01-29T11:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=29519"},"modified":"2025-01-29T11:43:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T11:43:08","slug":"breaking-ex-celtics-forward-shares-1st-impression-of-payton-pritchard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=29519","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Ex-Celtics forward shares 1st impression of Payton Pritchard"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Blake Griffin and Payton Pritchard met at a Los Angeles Clippers game when Pritchard was just 16 years old before they knew they\u2019d end up teammates on the Boston Celtics.<\/p>\n

Pritchard verbally committed to Oklahoma \u2014 Griffin\u2019s alma mater \u2014 and then-Sooners coach Lon Kruger wanted the two to meet.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was super shy,\u201d Griffin told told ESPN in an exclusive interview. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pritchard stands at 6-foot-1 and is 195 pounds, so he doesn\u2019t have the build of several other NBA players. But what stood out was his work ethic \u2014 particularly to Brad Stevens who was Pritchard\u2019s coach during his 2020-21 rookie season.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe works as hard as anybody I\u2019ve ever seen in my 20-plus years of being around the game,\u201d Stevens told ESPN. \u201cHe\u2019s 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\u2019s doing way more.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want to take that away from him,\u201d he added. \u201cBecause I think he\u2019s always been a great worker. I think as he\u2019s aged, he\u2019s gotten even better about how to work and the right way to approach it. But he\u2019s really got to. I mean, he\u2019s at the highest echelon of work ethic for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s front office. Pritchard\u2019s playing time dipped ever more in Joe Mazzulla\u2019s first year as coach.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so impressed with just his mindset and then also his work ethic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blake Griffin and Payton Pritchard met at a Los Angeles Clippers game when Pritchard was just 16 years old before they knew they\u2019d end up teammates on the Boston Celtics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":29520,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: Ex-Celtics forward shares 1st impression of Payton Pritchard - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=29519\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Ex-Celtics forward shares 1st impression of Payton Pritchard - 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