Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard has no problem hoisting an end-of-quarter shot as time expires from anywhere on the court.
And he has no problem calling out his NBA counterparts who pass up that opportunity.
Pritchard became Boston’s king of the buzzer-beater, most notably draining a half-court shot right before halftime in Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. In that same game, Dante Exum had a chance to launch a near full-court heave at the end of the first quarter but never pulled the trigger and just let the clock run out.
Pritchard sees that as taking the cowardly way out.
“Soft mentally,” Pritchard told The Athletic’s Jay King about players taking that approach. “Worrying about a shooting percentage. It’s very weak. You care about your individual shooting percentage more than winning. That’s so soft.”
It is that mindset that allowed Pritchard to blossom and go from a potential trade candidate to an integral piece of the Celtics this season.
Pritchard is the runaway favorite for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award as he enters the All-Star break averaging a career-best 13.8 points per game on 41.1% shooting from beyond the arc to go along with 3.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists.
He turned down an opportunity to participate in the NBA’s annual 3-point contest, looking to catch up on his rest instead of chasing fame.
In the end, all Pritchard cares about is winning games for the Celtics. So, he’ll continue to take those buzzer-beating shots whenever they present themselves and scoff at the players who won’t try them for their teams.
