NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. MAVERICKS

June 8, 2024

Payton Pritchard

Boston Celtics

Practice Day

Q. Where were you in ’08, the last time the Celtics won it?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: I was in my hometown of West Linn. I believe I was in West Linn. Maybe I was in Oregon City. But, yeah, I was back home.

Q. What do you remember from that time, and how old were you?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: I just remember KG, after he won, doing the interview after where he was shouting out to his kids and stuff like that, going crazy.

Q. How old were you?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: In 2008, I was 10.

Q. What was a 10-year-old Payton Pritchard doing?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: Playing sports, baseball, basketball, running around. Big into sports.

Q. When did you gravitate to hoops?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: Not until high school. It's when I transitioned to just hoop.

Q. What was your favorite back then?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: Always basketball. I liked it all equally. Baseball and football.

Q. I was asking a bunch of the guys about whether or not they are superstitious and what superstitions they have, and everybody said you are the most superstitious player on the team. Why do you think that is?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: They said that? I don't know if I'm superstitious. Maybe I'm like superstitious like if I have a bad shooting game, I probably won't wear those shoes again. That's about it. Like something like that.

Q. Any changes from the last time you were here and what you expect, what you were expecting?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: This feels similar. We've been through it before. So we're used to a lot of things coming. So we know we've got to be ready for Game 2 and try to take care of business.

Q. You got a couple switches on to Luka. What did you see from him, and you were successful in getting stops on him?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: He's an unbelievable player so you have to be prepared for a lot of things. You have to play hard, make things tough and hope he misses.

Q. How does Jayson Tatum make life easier for you individually and all your teammates?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: He draws so much attention. So even if he's not shooting the ball well, he can draw a lot of attention. Defenses are collapsing on him. Creates easy shots for teammates even when he doesn't have the ball. He's very impactful, always.

Q. How would you describe his personality off the court relative to maybe some other NBA stars?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: He's really relaxed. Quiet. A little bit reserved. Great dude. Easy to be around. Yeah, he's just easygoing.

Q. Does he even feel like he's one of the best players in the league personality-wise, if that makes sense?

PAYTON PRITCHARD: I mean, it's hard for me to say because I know him. So I know he's one of the best players. But like the way his personality is, he's just laid back. So he's not, like, showboating and acting like he's the best. He's confident but -- I think he's confident knowing who he is so he doesn't feel the need to do that.