Celtics' Payton Pritchard Takes Massive Shot at Opponents For Being 'Soft'

Matt Levine | Feb 14, 2025

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Boston Celtics remain as one of the best teams in the entire NBA even after winning the title last season. The core that the Celtics have in place has allowed them to keep growing and they are still one of the favorites to win it all this year.

One of the biggest reasons why Boston has been so good is because of the play from the role players around their stars. The emergence of guard Payton Pritchard has helped unlock a ton on offense for this Celtics team.

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Pritchard has become a fan-favorite in Boston very quickly and he has been instrumental to the success of the Celtics. His mentality is one of the main reasons for his success and he isn't afraid to shoot the basketball at any given time.

Pritchard even went as far as to call out opponents for caring too much about their shooting percentages. Some players in the NBA will intentionally wait for the clock to run out to boost their percentages.

The Celtics guard isn't having any of this as Pritchard explained his thinking on this matter very clearly.

“Soft mentally,” Pritchard said. “Worrying about a shooting percentage. It’s very weak. You care about your individual shooting percentage more than winning. That’s so soft.”

Pritchard misses a lot of shot attempts but he also makes a lot as well. His mindset is to go big every time and it has worked out well for himself so far.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla even praised him for his toughness and willingness to take and make shot attempts.

“You could tell that his speed was going to be a weapon in those full-court situations,” Mazzulla said. “And then his willingness to want to shoot those. It just gives us (another) weapon.”

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Pritchard is a massive part of the Celtics' overall success and will continue to help them win games. Boston loves him and he will play a big role in their quest to repeat as NBA champions.

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