What Jaylen Brown said about Payton Pritchard going on a hot streak in his signature shoes
"He's been in my bag, man, for sure," Brown said.
A mixture of boredom and weariness from sneaker brand politics led Jaylen Brown to create a company of his own during the offseason.
The 741 brand aspires to become the “future of performance” by serving athletes in a functional, stylish, and boundary-pushing manner.
The three-time All-Star is performing at a similar clip to past seasons, but one of his teammates is enjoying a career-year wearing while wearing the new 741 shoes that debuted on opening night.
A little more than a quarter of the way through the season, Payton Pritchard is averaging twice as many points (16.4) as his career average (8.2). He’s shooting 43.1 percent from 3-point range and 48.9 percent from the field.
“He’s been in my bag, man, for sure,” Brown said. “He got my shoes on. I’m gonna have to take my joints back. He definitely has the up-fakes, the post moves, he’s definitely been expanding his game and I love to see it.”
During Celtics media day, Brown said that the Celtics play through Pritchard against certain opponents like the Pistons. Some interpreted the comment as Brown taking a shot at the Pistons, but Pritchard’s play has changed the way that even teams at the top of the standings such as the Cavaliers are approaching the Celtics.
“Now I don’t think anyone thinks anything of that comment,” Brown said. “We’re going to continue to do that, continue to look for him to get going because he’s proven it doesn’t even matter – it’s any team now. When he’s got it going, I think it makes it easier and better for us as a team, so I’m here for it.”
The 6-foot-1 guard has emerged as a Sixth Man of the Year candidate. He’s currently the betting favorite to win the award, according to Bet MGM.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said Pritchard has evolved into one of the best three-level scorers he has seen. He said becoming the kind of player who has become a mainstay on opposing team’s scouting report says a lot about the work Pritchard puts in.
“It says two things,” Mazzulla said. “One as a player, he’s continuing to grow and be patient. Again, the hardest thing for young guys is to make it through their first contract when there’s a lot of unknowns.”
“You look at his first year – he played a lot then Kemba (Walker) came back and he didn’t play. It seems like his first couple of years every year there was just wings ahead of him. He’s just continued to work and that’s hard to do for a young guy.”
“I think the second piece is his teammates understanding that we need to have a different identity and we need to go to different stuff. He takes a ton of pressure off the other guys. So, I think it’s twofold. It’s what he’s done and the team empowering him to do that because he’s special.”
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