Pritchard reflects on ‘honor' on winning Sixth Man of the Year
Celtics guard Payton Pritchard spoke before Game 2 about the "honor" of winning the 2025 NBA Sixth Man of the Year award.
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Pritchard reflects on ‘honor' on winning Sixth Man of the Year originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
BOSTON — Payton Pritchard has come a long way since joining the Boston Celtics. On Tuesday, his efforts were recognized with the 2025 NBA Sixth Man of the Year award.
The honor represents the sacrifices Pritchard has made to carve out a key role with the team that drafted him in 2020. After averaging 19.2 minutes per game as a rookie, the Oregon product saw his playing time dip significantly during the 2021-22 campaign and even more in 2022-23.
That led to Pritchard requesting a trade ahead of the 2023 deadline, but a deal never materialized. Instead, the Celtics showed their faith in Pritchard with a four-year contract extension ahead of the 2023-24 season. Since then, Pritchard has evolved into an NBA champion and one of the best bench players in the league.
“It’s a credit to him. It’s a credit to the player development staff,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said before Wednesday’s Game 2 against the Orlando Magic. “I’ve said before about him, it’s easy for guys to slip through the cracks dealing with uncertainty, but he dealt with it with a high level of professionalism.”
Pritchard took a moment before Wednesday’s game against Orlando to reflect on his accomplishment.
“It’s definitely an honor to get the award. It just shows that I’m on the right path,” Pritchad said. “That all the hard work that I put in, and the grind and everything, it’s paying off. …
“It’s just having this dying passion for something I love,” he added. “I pour everything into it every day. It’s just a commitment I’ve had at a young age and a belief in myself that I could do things that a lot of people said — a majority, everybody said — I would never be able to do.”
After winning the award, Pritchard quickly shifted his focus to the ultimate goal: Banner 19.
“The main goal is to win a ring,” he said. “Like, it’s great to have this award, but I’d much rather have a ring than an individual award. The most important thing is to get this for the team and the city.”
Pritchard stepped up in Game 1, delivering 19 points off the bench in Boston’s 103-86 win. He’ll look to duplicate the performance when the Celtics and Magic face off in Game 2 Wednesday night at TD Garden.
