How Celtics’ Payton Pritchard let game do talking for 6MOY campaign

Payton Pritchard could’ve promoted himself for Sixth Man of the Year after torching the Hornets, but he let his game do all the talking.

BOSTON — Boston Celtics point guard Payton Pritchard isn’t the loudest voice in the room. He doesn’t need to be because his game does all the talking for him. That was especially evident on Sunday afternoon when he led the Celtics to a 93-86 victory over the Charlotte Hornets in their final contest of the regular season.The fifth-year Celtic finished with a game-high 34 points in 38 minutes. He also contributed a game-high seven assists and, despite his 6-foot-1 stature, corralled seven rebounds. Charlotte’s top rebounder, 7-foot center Jusuf Nurkic, grabbed the same amount of boards as Pritchard.

Pritchard’s impressive performance won’t be discussed much for two reasons. Firstly, the second-place Celtics locked up their seeding and received no boost in the standings for beating the lackluster Hornets. Secondly, this kind of game from Pritchard isn’t the anomaly it once was.

The Boston backup set career-highs across the board this season. He averaged 14.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per outing. In addition, he shot a career-high 47.2% from the floor and a remarkable 40.7% from deep while attempting almost eight triples a game.

Due to his efforts, Pritchard is the frontrunner for the prestigious Sixth Man of the Year Award. When asked if he’s had a 2024-25 campaign worthy of such an honor, the 27-year-old chose to focus on whether or not he fulfilled his role for his team.

“I feel like I put myself in the best situation possible to win it, so I’m proud of that,” he answered during his postgame press conference. “I feel like I’ve done my job as far as helping this team by coming off the bench and being a spark. And, you know, trying to be the best bench player in the league.”

Why won’t Payton Pritchard campaign more for Sixth Man of the Year?

© Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images

Following Pritchard’s humble reply, he was given another opportunity to promote himself for Sixth Man of the Year. He refused.

“There’s no need for that,” he stressed. “If I get it, like I said, it’s not gonna stop my journey. It’s not gonna stop the work I’m gonna put in. This would just be another stepping stone. People can write about it if I get it, saying that I have an award. But at the end of the day, I’m just looking to keep growing and growing.”

This understated approach is different from what’s going on with the Defensive Player of the Year Award. Golden State Warriors center Draymond Green openly declared that he should win, forcing Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley to push his own agenda.

Meanwhile, Pritchard is content with letting the voters decide.

“If I get voted for it, it’s an unbelievable award, and it’d be a great honor,” he stated. “But at the end of the day, it’s outside my control if they vote for me or not. So, we’ll see.”

Three different Celtics have earned Sixth Man of the Year honors since the award’s inception in 1982. The trophy is even named after Celtics legend John Havlicek. If Pritchard took home the historic hardware, that’d give the Celtics five Sixth Man of the Year Awards, tying the Los Angeles Clippers for the most in NBA history.