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‘This kid must be nasty’: Blake Griffin recalls his first impression of a teenage Payton Pritchard
The multi-time All-Star got his first glimpse of Pritchard's game when the Celtics guard was 16.
Years before they would eventually become Celtics teammates, Payton Pritchard and Blake Griffin met after a Clippers game.
Pritchard was 16 and deciding on which college to attend. He was being recruited by Griffin’s alma mater, Oklahoma.
Lon Kruger, who was coaching the Sooners at the time, arranged for the four-star recruit to meet the multi-time All-Star when the Clippers played the Trail Blazers in Portland, according to ESPN. Pritchard grew up in nearby West Linn, Oregon.
“He was super shy,” Griffin told ESPN of his initial impression of Pritchard. “We talked for a little bit, but I mean, dude, when I say he was scrawny, I was like, man, this kid must be nasty on the court.”
At 6-foot-1, 195-pounds, Pritchard’s stature does not immediately scream NBA player. But, his work ethic did, said Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens, who was head coach of the Celtics during Pritchard’s rookie season in 2021.
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“He works as hard as anybody I’ve ever seen in my 20-plus years of being around the game,” said Stevens. “He’s the kind of guy that, especially when I was coaching in college, I would have to change or tailor our practice plans because I would know that he’s doing way more.
“You don’t want to take that away from him,” Stevens added. “Because I think he’s always been a great worker. I think as he’s aged, he’s gotten even better about how to work and the right way to approach it. But he’s really got to. I mean, he’s at the highest echelon of work ethic for sure.”
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Pritchard had his pick of a number of high-major college programs, and he did not choose Griffin’s Sooners. He ultimately stayed in his home state to play for the University of Oregon.
Pritchard won Pac-12 Player of the Year and the Bob Cousy award for the nation’s top point guard during his senior season en route to being picked by the Celtics in the first round of the 2020 NBA draft.
He earned significant playing time during his rookie season, logging 19.2 minutes per game. But, his minutes began to slide in 2022 after Ime Udoka took over for Stevens and slid even further during Joe Mazzulla‘s first season in 2023.
He was reportedly “losing his mind” over not playing, and eventually asked for a trade. The Celtics tried to make it happen, but didn’t get enough interest to pull the trigger on a deal, according to ESPN.
Griffin, who spent the final season of his 13-year NBA career as a reserve with the Celtics, could see the promise in Pritchard’s game even during the tough times. He told Pritchard that he could understand the frustration with the lack of minutes and encouraged him to stick with it.
“This kid will play one-on-one with anyone at any hour of the day, all day, every day,” Griffin said. “And he is just torching guys. I mean, he’s going at [Brown], going at [Tatum], he’s going at guys. And not to say they don’t get some stops every now and then. And not to say they weren’t going at people, too, but I was so impressed with just his mindset and then also his work ethic.”
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Pritchard stayed with the Celtics and raised his game. He’s averaging a career-high 14.1 points per game on a career-high 41.5 percent shooting from 3-point range this season, establishing himself as one of the league’s premier bench scorers and a favorite in the Sixth Man of the Year race.
He has also built a reputation as a clutch end-of-quarter performer and long-range heave artist.
Pritchard credited Griffin with helping him get through one of the toughest seasons of his career. The relationship is deeper than just basketball. Griffin officiated Pritchard’s wedding on Cape Cod last summer.
“I love Blake,” Pritchard said. “I owe him a lot, just to help me get through that year. Just having somebody as a positive figure and as big as the person he is to really try to help me through that. I feel like he really took me under his wing.”
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