'Vet Approach' Helping Jordan Walsh's Rapid Transformation: 'Prove That to Everybody'

Bobby Krivitsky | Oct 18, 2024

Oct 13, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jordan Walsh (27) drives to the basket past Toronto Raptors guard Gradey Dick (1) during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images / Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

Summer League didn't go as Jordan Walsh envisioned. However, speaking with him in Las Vegas, it seemed like his Sin City struggles helped him find the approach best for himself moving forward.

"I felt like my focus was at the wrong thing," Walsh told Boston Celtics on SI. "I feel like I put too much on making shots."

"Not going in with the right mentality of, 'I got to go in and play as hard as I can, the result's the result.'" he later expressed. "Now I'm trying to switch to that, and let that be the main goal, and see how it goes."

When the preseason arrived, Walsh looked like a completely different player. He was more under control offensively and attacking the basket with greater regularity. Gone were the immature outbursts after missed shots, as the frustration from an 0/22 slump from beyond the arc at Summer League got the best of him.

"I was hearing feedback from family, the team, everybody," said Walsh on Friday at the Auerbach Center. "I was like, 'I understand what happened there -- how I played was unacceptable to me.' "So, now transitioning from that to a growth mindset. (I'm) trying to become a more complete player, a more under control player. That was my focus. Trying to slow my game down and take more of a vet approach."

Asked about the type of feedback he received from his family, a smiling Walsh conveyed, "It's usually always negative. (They're) always humbling me."

As for what he's now hearing from Joe Mazzulla and the Celtics' coaching staff, the 20-year-old wing shared, "For the most part, they were saying I played my role really well," adding, "They think I've matured a lot more than I was last year at this point. Even from Summer League 'til now, they thought that I played way better."

Mazzulla, outlining Walsh's role, stated after Boston's 50-point shellacking of the 76ers last Saturday at TD Garden, "Defend at a high level, defend multiple positions, rebound, and then make reads on the offensive end. So, he's doing a great job."

Walsh averaged 9.0 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and nearly 1.0 steals while shooting 45.5 percent from the field, including 36.8 percent from three-point range on 3.8 attempts from beyond the arc in the Celtics' five exhibition contests.

Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

"(I'm) proud of his growth," voiced Mazzulla. "Him, the player development team, the work they put in with him. He works hard at it. But (he's) starting to carve out a role and showing a really good attitude towards it. So, it's been fun to watch him grow."

As Walsh works toward a role in the reigning champions' rotation, he singled out one of the starters as having an integral role in his transformation into a player who bears no resemblance to the one combatting Summer League struggles a few months ago.

"I've been talking to Jrue (Holiday) a lot," said the second-year wing. "He's told me that, 'Whenever you're going 100 miles per hour, you're gonna make a mistake, but if you're going 80-85, you can make the right read, make the right decision, (and) see the floor clearly 99 percent of the time.'"

"I was 110 (miles per hour) for sure," said Walsh, who then let out a chuckle after gauging what the odometer read during his rookie season and while suiting up for the Sin City C's in July. "But now I'm trying to chill at a cool 87."

Veteran teammate Sam Hauser is also working with Walsh, helping him take the long view as he undergoes a physical transformation, packing on more muscle.

"I'm open ears. I'm here to listen. I'm here to help whenever they need it," voiced Hauser. "I've already seen growth from last year in that aspect. Just getting his body prepped for on-the-court stuff. He's so young that he can kind of wake up and go play, and he'll get to a point one day where he's not able to, and he needs something that he can fall back on and lean on, and I think he's already showing that (with the) weight room stuff and then on the court he's gotten a lot better."

Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

Now equipped with a healthier outlook and an improved physique, the six-foot-seven wing has "built a little more confidence in myself and my game. I feel like I'm growing into being more of an NBA player and trying to prove that to everybody else, but also still prove it to myself."

Seeing what he took from Las Vegas pay off as he takes significant steps in converting his potential into production, Walsh said of the confidence he gained during the preseason:

"A lot. A lot came before, between Summer League and now. During preseason, while it was going on, hearing the support of my teammates (and) trying to gain the respect of my teammates, (that) definitely boosted my confidence a lot more.  

"Now, P's (Payton Pritchard) passing to me a little bit more. JT's giving me advice, passing (it) to me a little bit more. So, it's just all those ways are making me feel like, 'Yo, I'm really a part of this team, and I can help.' And those guys believe it, and I believe it."

With Oshae Brissett gone, there's room for Walsh in the Celtics' "Stay Ready Group."

In the last year, Boston has committed over $960 million in extensions with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the two-highest-paid players in league history -- granted, that's a title that quickly changes hands -- Holiday, Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis, and Hauser.

That's not even accounting for Payton Pritchard's four-year, $30 million deal that he inked before the start of the 2023-24 campaign, which moves the total cost closer to a $1 billion spending spree.

So, in the long term, having a dynamic wing with starter potential on a rookie contract blossom into a rotation fixture would go a long way for a franchise living over the second apron and projected to pay about $515.4 million for next season's roster.