BOSTON — A year ago, Payton Pritchard wanted the Boston Celtics to trade him. He openly discussed his desire for the team to move him.
Pritchard wanted a bigger role. He wanted to show what he could do. As somebody obsessed with basketball, he just wanted to play.
“It’s funny the difference a year will make,” Pritchard said Tuesday while sitting against the wall on one side of the Celtics practice court.
Pritchard owns a rotation spot now. He possesses the security of a four-year contract extension he signed in October. He said he is still working toward additional responsibilities, as any player would be, but he has survived the most trying season of his NBA career and capitalized on an expanded role.
With the Feb. 8 trade deadline approaching, Pritchard discussed the toll last season took on him, the forces that carried him through the experience and the perspective he holds now that he has reemerged as the primary backup point guard on the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics.
“At the end of the day, it was always the same thing,” Pritchard said. “I wanted to be able to play and be able to play every game. And sweat out there. And really feel like I’m contributing. Fortunately enough, on this team, this year, I feel like I have a role to help the team win.”
Now with steady minutes, Pritchard believes his experience last season built an extra layer of mental resolve. A bench mainstay earlier in his career, he found himself on the fringes of the rotation after the Celtics acquired Malcolm Brogdon in the summer of 2022. Also behind Marcus Smart and Derrick White on the depth chart, Pritchard received only sporadic playing time. As the trade deadline approached, he made it known publicly he wanted to land on a team with more of an opportunity, but the Celtics held on to him, leaving him stuck behind several accomplished guards. While Boston achieved plenty of success as a team, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals, Pritchard needed to confront the reality that, for the first time in his life, he wouldn’t get a regular chance to play. He received only 57 playoff minutes, many of them in garbage time.
The situation tested him. Pritchard said he leaned on assistant coach Aaron Miles, who left the Celtics for the Pelicans after the season. Through the ups and downs, Pritchard said Miles was always there when he needed to chat. He felt like Miles understood him.
“And I appreciated him for that because I needed him at that time,” Pritchard said. “It was just having somebody there at all times talking to me and making sure that I know what I’m capable of and we’re going to keep working towards that. You see a lot of guys stop playing and then they mentally break and then they’re not in the league anymore because of that. So, not letting it break me. You need good people in your corner like that to get through your tough times.”
Even by NBA standards, Pritchard’s work ethic is relentless. He held onto that but said he also learned how to live a more balanced life. Recognizing that some things were out of his control, he said he tried to stop dwelling on the game when he was away from the court. He put in the work. He would be ready when the time came. But outside of the lines, he left those feelings behind him.
“I got engaged this summer,” Pritchard said, “so having a partner like that helps. Finding other things outside of basketball. Just doing things and not making your whole life worrying about basketball. It’s hard sometimes at the professional level because you play every other day so your mind is always focused on the next one, what happened yesterday. But I just kind of learned that it’s never as bad as it seems and it’s never as good as it seems at the end of the day. So, like, 10 years from now, if we win the championship we’ll remember that, but…
This article was originally published by a theathletic.com . Read the Original article here. .