Payton Pritchard Played Pickup With Boston’s Youth Before Pestering Bucks

BOSTON — Celtics guard Payton Pritchard isn’t one to back down from a challenge, whether it comes from a few youngsters at the park midway through a morning stroll in the city or the Milwaukee Bucks.

Pritchard and his wife, Emma MacDonald, were walking their dog when a few young Celtics fans spotted the undersized guard. The group of rascal hoopers hollered to Pritchard and caught the 26-year-old’s attention, which earned them the opportunity of a lifetime: a free-of-charge basketball session with Pritchard. He took the pickup game completely seriously, 24 hours before getting set to take the floor for the Celtics.

“Me and my wife were actually walking our dog, we got coffee, and then we stopped by a dog park. And by the dog park in Seaport, there’s a little hoop,” Pritchard said after Boston’s victory over Milwaukee on Monday night. “And I had a beanie and stuff on so I didn’t think anybody would really notice me, but these kids saw me from afar and they were yelling. … Then I end up going over there and it was kind of lowkey and we were just messing around really. I’m just playing 1-on-1 with them and they were actually pretty good, little scrappy kids getting after it. I definitely appreciated it and I was talking a little bit. I don’t know, I like moments like that. Just felt like a kid again just playing outside.”

The road to hopping into Boston’s rotation routinely wasn’t easy for Pritchard.

Two seasons ago, Pritchard considered ditching the Celtics entirely after logging a career-low 13.4 minutes across 48 appearances. Times seemed bleak and Pritchard’s stock value at the time began to dip down. But Boston stuck by its 2020 first-rounder and extended Pritchard to a four-year, $30 million contract — before Pritchard got a chance to prove himself and justify the investment.

Now, Pritchard’s giving everyone problems while also inspiring young up-and-coming hoopers who might also be vertically challenged but just as determined — if not more — as everyone else on the court.

“I feel like it comes cause I look like an ordinary person,” Pritchard, who stands at 6-foot-1, explained. “And I feel like I give hope to everybody that is the same size as me. I’m not necessarily the most athletic but with hard work, you can make it a long way and I feel like I’m the prime example of that. You know, I never quit and I’ll keep going. Anything you put your mind to in life, you can accomplish it. So, I’m proud to give hope to those people.”

Pritchard filled the unofficial sixth-man role and scored 28 points on 10-of-14 shooting, knocking down eight 3-pointers to give the Bucks more problems than they could handle. Pritchard even drilled a step-back three to beat the third-quarter buzzer, give the Celtics a 90-82 advantage and send Milwaukee head coach Doc Rivers into a visible state of defeat.

“We talked about (Pritchard) before the game started,” Bucks guard Damian Lillard told reporters, per CLNS Media. “Like, we can’t let him come in and have that type of impact on the game and he came out and had that type of impact on the game. Obviously, if you see the ball go in a couple of times, you gonna feel different about it. A guy like him, I’ve known him a long time since he was in middle school growing up in West Linn (High School). He a hard worker. He’s a believer.”