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Locked On Celtics - Daily Podcast On The Boston Celtics
Payton Pritchard 1-On-1: Trash Talker, Chip On Shoulder, Dagger 3s | Stevens Wins Award
00:20:50
Payton Pritchard reveals the mentality behind his clutch performances and why silencing hostile arenas fires him up even more. How does his relentless competitiveness set him apart, and what does it take to thrive as an elite NBA role player in critical moments? John Karalis of Celtics On SI sits down one-on-one with Payton Pritchard to unpack the origins of his “chip on the shoulder” mindset, his transformation between off-court calm and on-court intensity, and the unique satisfaction of shutting up a road crowd. Plus, Karalis breaks down Brad Stevens’ Executive of the Year win, exploring how his strategic roster moves, talent identification—including key additions like Luka Garza—and focus on competitive character and team culture have positioned the Boston Celtics for another deep playoff run. Can the Celtics close out the Philadelphia 76ers at home and maintain their championship momentum?
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- [00:02]
John Corrales
It's the Lockdown Podcast Network your team every day
- [00:11]
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- [01:08]
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- [01:42]
John Corrales
Brad Stevens wins Executive of the Year and I go one on one with Peyton Pritchard in this bonus Locked On Celtics Podcast Daily show Free for you Monday through Friday plus this bonus podcast. Bonus podcast on the weekends. I drop them whenever, so make sure you're subscribed wherever you get the show. I'm John Corrales. I host the show. I cover the Celtics for Celtics on SI. I've been covering the team for like 20 years. I've been doing this podcast for 10 today. A short one, a bonus one because I promised you the one on one interview with Peyton Pritchard. I'll take a break and then in the second segment we'll get into Brad Stevens and his Executive of the Year and just a little bit of what makes him the Executive of the Year before we head into game five against the Philadelphia 76ers. So I recorded this interview. It's just a quick three minute interview with Peyton. Recorded it before game four. So just a quick kind of what makes him so, like, what puts that chip on his shoulder and a couple of other things. I think it's a, a nice little talk. Here it is. All right, so you play. You play with the chip on your shoulder. How did you develop, how did you develop that?
- [02:53]
Peyton Pritchard
I don't think it's developed. I think it's just something that you have from a young age. It didn't matter what the sport was. I just always played with that, like this hunger to compete and win.
- [03:04]
John Corrales
You're out there. I mean, how much. How much does that help you in? Like, how much does that help you kind of get to this spot, you know, because, you know, you had a lot of things working against you. You smaller, you came in four year guy, you, you know, you always, it always seems like you're working against something. How, how did that help you kind of get to where you are now?
- [03:23]
Peyton Pritchard
I mean, I think it's, you know, you got to have a chip on your shoulder. Being somebody like my size, just the, the journey I've been on too. But honestly, I feel like it's just the hunger to keep getting better and better every day and just believing that, you know, there is no limit for
- [03:41]
John Corrales
me when you're out there and you get that shot. I think I read your lips. We're not going to get into that, but like, it's like an ultimate kind of confidence. Do you. What's the difference? Like, who are you off the court? What's the difference between who you are, like, on the court? You become like a different person almost.
- [04:02]
Peyton Pritchard
I mean, I'm probably a little bit different. Yeah, for sure. Like, I'm more probably laid back, but I mean, my competitive nature and this mentality never goes away. Like, so if we're competing at anything, you know, I want to be the best at it. So that just never goes. But yeah, I mean, there's probably a side of me that's different off the court, but when we're on the court, for sure, I feel like I'm going to war.
- [04:26]
John Corrales
I listen to Derek's podcast and they always ask the guys on there who's the biggest trash talker, and it always is. I'm not so sure we have a lot of trash talkers on the team, but if we do, it's Peyton.
- [04:38]
Peyton Pritchard
I don't know if I'm like a Trash talker, though. Like, I'm not, like, necessarily, like, talking crazy to people. It's more maybe like a. Just how I carry myself and, like. Like the little stuff I do say. But it's not like I'm talking to people. I'm more talking.
- [04:54]
John Corrales
You're letting them know.
- [04:55]
Peyton Pritchard
Yeah, it's an arena.
- [04:56]
John Corrales
Yeah. Well, just like you did after that shot.
- [04:58]
Peyton Pritchard
Yeah, for sure.
- [05:00]
John Corrales
I asked Sam a version of this, but you've hit huge shots at home. You hit that huge shot here. What feels better that. That rush at home or shutting up the crowd here?
- [05:12]
Peyton Pritchard
I'd have to say on the road, the road's always better.
- [05:16]
John Corrales
Everybody says the road.
- [05:17]
Peyton Pritchard
I like. Obviously, you hit big shots at home. It's incredible. It's a good feeling. But, like, it's something about, you know, like, upsetting a whole arena. It just makes you feel better.
- [05:29]
John Corrales
They're supposed to cheer for you at home, and they're supposed to be cheering against you here. When you get them to shut up. Yeah, that's great.
- [05:35]
Peyton Pritchard
So it's a. Yeah, it's a better feeling.
- [05:39]
John Corrales
All right. Everybody says the road. And how many times have I said that here? I love shutting up a road crowd. I asked Sam Houser that same question, whether he'd rather do it at home or on the road. And it's just something. Especially in Philly. I don't know if I've talked about it yet on the podcast. How quiet that building was in game four. How quiet that building got right before the we want Boston chance. I mean, that was just chef's kiss. Beautiful stuff in. In Philly there because so many Celtics fans were there. I'm sure a lot of Sixers fans just said, you know what? I'm not even. I'm not even gonna go. I don't want to see this. Probably sold their tickets. They don't want to be there for that, Make a little bit of money and then move on. But the. The. Everybody says this is. They'd rather be. They'd rather hit a huge shot on the road. And. And listen, I love Payton talking about, like, I don't really talk to the players. I talk to the arena. He. And that goes to the chip on his shoulder, that whole bit about, you know, your. Your everything that he's. He's been saying, like, I. I could read his lips after he hit the shot in game three, and it was not something I can repeat over here. And he was talking to Reggie Miller. He'll talk to anybody. He uses that as motivation. He pumps himself up These guys, Peyton, Jalen, any, any elite athlete like this, they have this weird ability to trick themselves and pump themselves up by using perceived slights. They just take things, process them a certain way and it becomes this motivation. I can't do it. I can't figure out how they do it. This, it's this innate ability to take something, hold on to something and just use it like, like a survivalist packing an ember to relight a fire somewhere down the trail when you set up the next camp that these guys are able to do this. And it's, it's kind of mind blowing how that's possible. So Peyton definitely does it. I know, I know Jalen does it. And it's, it's kind of fun. It's fun. I always say like the, the best of the best athletes, the elite, they're, it's not that they're physically better than everybody else. Like look at Payton. He's 6ft 6'1. He's not running faster than a lot of people. He's not jumping higher than a lot of people. But what is it? It's this mentality to get, first of all to create a dribble that's just so low and tight that he never turns the ball over. And then it's this mentality of when he hits a shot he just turns into this dude, this like crazy lunatic that it just, he fueled him. That, that's not, you're not well adjusted like that. Like something about he may be well adjusted off the court. And this is why I asked the question about who are you off the court and do you turn into a different person on the court? You find a switch and you turn into this like maniac. A lot of these guys do. So Pritchard being able to, to get his brain there and I wish, I wish I talked to him one on one after the game because I, I want to ask him about that one footed three pointer and all of that stuff. You get limited time and shoot arounds to get your one on one access, but it was a, a nice little conversation. Thank you to Peyton Pritchard. He's, he's a, he's such a low key guy off the court but once you compete with something, once he's competing, he wants to kill you. It's crazy. Brad Stevens is the same way and I think that's what makes him partly what makes him executive of the year. He won the award. We'll talk about that quickly when I come back. Today's show is brought to you by five Hour Energy Grab yourself a Fruity Rainbow five hour Energy shot. If you got a sweet tooth, it satisfies you there. It gives you that tasty caffeine kick and it brings that nostalgic flavor back in a very new way. You need a kick. You need a little something to get you through the day. I know when I'm traveling I'll throw a few of these in my bag and I'll pop one out when I'm especially like when I was driving home from Philly, I did the drive rather than fly and that five hour drive, five Hour Energy. It's perfect. So the Fruity Rainbow five hour Energy shot is zero sugar treat that's sweet tooth approved. It's convenient, small, portable and it's your go to when you need something sweet without going overboard. You can get candy flavored chaos with fruity rainbow five hour energy shots. They're available at five hour energy.com that's five the number five hourenergy.com or you can pick it up at Amazon. This is Jake from Lock Dawn. When the game is on the line, the best know when to pass because the right assist can change everything. And off the court it's no different. That's where your State Farm agent comes in. Whether it's protecting your car, your home or helping you prep for the unexpected, they'll help set you up with a game plan that works for you like a good neighbor. State Farm is there. Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability and eligibility vary by state. Thanks for making Lockdown Celtics your first listen every day you are in every day or you're joining me every Monday through Friday. So let's go ahead and make it official. Join the everyday or club. Go add free audio and get access to our members only Discord. It's all built for you our most loyal fan. Click on the link in the show notes or just go to Lockdown Celtics lockdown Celtics supercast.com lockdown Celtics supercast.com and check it out. It's $5 a month, $50 for the year to get all of that good stuff. Brad Stevens is the executive of the year. He won the award. It was a fairly close votes. He got all of the first place votes. The Wait, hold on. I just clicked off of the thing. 1111 first place votes. Salah Ansi in Atlanta. Trajan Langdon in Detroit was third. Jeff Peterson in Charlotte was fourth. Sam Presti and OKC was fifth. I'm not sure what OKC did to get up there but I mean he's they're just like, hey, he's good. But Brad gets the most first place votes and 69 total points. So it was, it wasn't that close, but it was close enough. Rob Pelinka gets a third place vote. How did Rob Pelinka get a third place vote? What did the Lakers do to. Yeah, never mind. Anyway, congratulations to Brad Stevens, who deserves this award. Obviously is. Is. Should be in the running for it most every year. Very interesting that he gets it. He won it a couple years ago for building the team with Porzingis and with Drew Holiday, and then he gets it again for trading those guys away. It's an interesting kind of, you know, bookending of the deal. So Porzingis to Atlanta for George Niang, who got flipped. A little part of me feels bad that he was like, oh, I get to go home and play for the Celtics. No, you don't, buddy. Got Anthony Simons, who helped, ultimately flipped him for Vuchovic. Vuch is starting to come around. We'll see what happens. I know not everybody's on board with Vuch, but Vuchovic, you kind of need him. Especially we talked about it in, in the. The Tuesday morning podcast where we're expressing a little bit of concern. Not. Not worry, but a little bit of, you know, concern for Namishkeda. But Vuch is stepping up. Brad has figured out how to get under the luxury tax, get himself more flexibility. He's found guys like Luca Garza, Josh Minot was helpful for a while. Ron Harper, Namish K. That developing nicely. The late draft picks like Bail, Sharman, Ugo Gonzalez, he's. He's really good at finding these guys the number one. They have Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown, right? That's your, your cornerstones, your bedrock. You, that's. You need that. That makes it. Makes it very easy or much easier to be executive of the year. Derek White, Peyton Pritchard, two elite, elite role players. And now you start to fill in the blanks. And Brad Stevens recently talked about all of this stuff, and I remember asking him about, what are you looking for? You find all these guys who step up and give you a little something extra. You know, what are you looking for? And he says, you know, we tend to look at the fact that if you have the right competitive character, you're more about the team. Those are huge qualities. He said, everybody's in the NBA for a reason. And if we can figure out how to maximize the reason they're there and not focus on the things people see as a detriment, then we can build a team as long as you have the right cornerstone. So this is the important element. Very easy. We all do it. I do it. You look at a guy like Luca Garza, who's the prime example. I think he's the biggest hit of this off season. He's not great defensively. He's, you know, not. He's not this, he's not that, whatever. Okay, what is he like that? What Brad says is, okay, so what is he? He's an elite offensive rebounder. He can hit three pointers and he has been able to hit three pointers. He can set good screens. He does these things. Okay, so how do you maximize that? You know, you need minimum guys. You need guys that make your two to three million dollars on a roster, an NBA roster, to, to be performers. When you have Tatum and Brown making nearly $60 million a piece, you need these guys at the bottom of the payroll to step up. And look, you're not making nothing when you make two and a half million dollars. But in the grand scheme of things, that's cheap. So what can you get out of him? Can you use him in any kind of situation? And like, okay, we can build these lineups where Garza is effective. We can give Ron Harper these minutes, we can give these guys these minutes. And then you lean in your development staff to see how much you can add to their game. And then from there you just make the next decision about who these players are. And so the competitive character is a big thing that Brad talks about. And he said that's a huge part of it. I like to say when you talk about a guy like Luke Garza, a good example is the competitive character where team matters. You're growth oriented, you come to work every day and this is the most important line. Your ambition doesn't necessarily exceed your self awareness. That is so critical. Your ambition doesn't necessarily exceed your self awareness. Such an underrated line from Brad Stevens. But it's so, so important when you're finding a role player. Your opinion of yourself, your ambition, what can you be? You want to be the best version of yourself, but what is yourself? And do some people have an overinflated view of themselves? This is something that's very useful in life too. You obviously, a lot of people like this. This reminds me of Arrested Development where Tobias is. He wants to be an actor, but he's like the worst actor. But it's his dream. No self awareness. His ambition exceeded his self awareness, which is an incredible comedy premise, but a terrible thing to have when you're a role player in the NBA, and so don't be Tobias Funke, be Luca Garza. And when you're Luca Garza and you have that competitive character to go in there and be ready to produce and ready to give your all, but also understand who you are, what you are on the court and what you can be, what you can be, you work on that in the off season. What you are right now is what we need you to be right now. And Brad Stevens finds these guys that are really, really good at that. And then the last very, very important piece, when he talked about Luca, but it's also applies to others. He said, quote, a guy like Luca came extremely highly recommended as a person. And we knew he had competitive character. So highly recommended as a person. I've talked about this. The Celtics locker room is full of good people. You have to be a good person. We all know that. The NBA locker room is full of egos. They all acknowledge that. Jalen Brown has talked about that. You have egos. You have high opinions of your abilities. Right? And that sometimes is helpful and it sometimes hurts. But to be a good person and understand, okay, the for the betterment of the team, here's what we have to do. If everybody is a good person and understands that in certain situations, it's going to be the moment for certain guys. And it's never personal. It's never. It's never anything beyond what do we. What does it take to win, at least with the Celtics? And can you. Can you put your own ego aside long enough to let that situation kind of manifest itself? This is Brad Stevens finding these guys. But this is also. All of these things that I'm saying are why Joe Missoula should probably win Coach of the Year, because he helps foster a lot of these things. Everything that Brad's doing is giving Joe Missoula the types of players that he needs to be great at his job. And everybody maximizes each other. This is why Joe never wants to talk about Coach of the Year, make it about himself. It's not about him. It's not about Brad. It's not about the players. It's about all of them together. So it is. And it isn't about Brad. It is. And it isn't about Joe. It isn't. Isn't it about the players. It's about everybody. It's about the staff. It's about the trainers. It's about the medical team. It's about the people who put out the towels and give the guys their ice after the game, you know, the. The locker room attendance. It's about the people who cook them their food. It's all of it. Everything has. Plays a role. But Brad Stevens sets the tone at the top for getting these types of guys, and that's his formula. Good people with competitive character who understand exactly who they are and what they're able to do. So congratulations to Brad Stevens for hitting on these guys and for winning Executive of the Year because of this. That's the podcast Quick bonus pod for you. Get you ready for Game 5 against the Philadelphia 76ers. And as they're playing, you can keep an eye on the scoreboard and see what the Hawks and Knicks are doing as we try to figure out. I expect the Celtics to close this out at home. I don't expect the Sixers to have much fight, but I think they'll have fight at the beginning. I just think they'll give up quicker. So if it's. If it's getting to a point where it doesn't look good, I don't think they're going to want to go back to Philly just so you can get booed in front of your home crowd. Don't like. Honestly, if you. If you play for a team in Philadelphia and you very clearly are getting ready to lose the series, do you really want to go back in front of your home crowd just so they can boo the hell out of you? Because that's what Philly fans will do. They will boo mercilessly. And I just don't want to deal with that. I wouldn't want to deal with that. Maybe that's the mentality that makes me a podcaster and not a player anymore. But come on, you're there. You're getting, you know, the stuffing kicked out of you, and you're sitting there saying, come on, come on, get up and fight. Get up and fight. And then, like, a thought comes into your brain, like, if you go back, somebody might throw a battery at you. Like, you know what? I'm good, I'm good. You know what? I'm just going to jack these threes. If they go in, they go in great. If they don't, forget it. So that's what I expect out of the Sixers. So close them out in Game 5, Boston, sit back, take a day or two off, get off your feet, rest your legs, and get ready for the Knicks or the Hawks. And amazingly, the possibility of going to Orlando. Who's up? Three one. That's a whole other thing. That's the show. I appreciate you listening and watching these bonus podcasts can drop during the week, can drop on the weekends, definitely when they play on a Friday or a Saturday night. So make sure you're subscribed. You can watch the show on YouTube, leave your thoughts in the comments section and then please share the podcast. Tell everybody they should be listening to and watching the Lockdown Celtics Podcast here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. It's your team. Every day, Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance to save you money. That's it. That's the ad. No bells and whistles. No guys. I said no bells and whistles. No trombones are fine. Visit libertymutual.com and make the switch today.
- [23:19]
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- [24:23]
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