Boston Celtics rookie Terry Rozier was an unpopular selection on draft night. He knows that.
Most Celtics fans were hoping their team would use the 16th overall pick on a more well-known name — Bobby Portis, Sam Dekker, Justin Anderson, even R.J. Hunter, whom the C’s ended up nabbing 12 spots later.
It didn’t matter that Rozier was one of the few players Boston brought back for a second pre-draft workout. To the vast majority of Celtics Nation, drafting the Louisville guard so high was a serious reach.
Ask him if he cares.
“Listen, I get it,” Rozier said over the weekend in Las Vegas, via the Boston Herald. “I know the Boston fans are all about their basketball. They probably were looking for a big name that they had projected.
“But I would say that the fans will end up falling in love with me. I give 110 percent, and that’s in practice and every game and everything. So I think those boos will turn around to be yeas. That’s my goal. I know the people here are serious about their basketball, and I am, too. I think it will all turn out fine.
“You never want to hear your name get booed, but it’s fine. I’m not going to let it bother me because I know what type of guy I am. I know the fans are going to end up falling in love with me and how I play the game.”
So far, he’s doing a fine job.
Rozier played in all eight summer league games for the Celtics, averaging 12.2 points, 3.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game for a team that went 5-3 between the Utah and Vegas circuits.
“All my life I’ve been playing like that,” he said, via the Herald. “The first 15 teams that passed on me … you know, I’m just excited to be in this position. I’m ready for this.”
Thumbnail photo via Twitter/@YahooSports
