Payton Pritchard

For all of the crowd-igniting shots that Payton Prichard contributed during his unforgettable title run, the box score that officially attached the label of “NBA champion” to his name wasn’t one that featured plenty of chances. Limited to just a single shot and less than a minute-and-a-half to make his impact during the series-clincher, the gifted combo guard recognized the need to work quickly. Fortunately for the Boston Celtics, few players within the Association are better suited for the job of big-time buckets under strict time constraints. Pritchard put those talents to the test once more, first by sprinting the length of the floor before burying a 34-foot bomb in Game Two, providing Boston with both a nine-point lead and valuable momentum heading into the fourth quarter. Eight days later, Pritchard struck gold once more with a beyond-half-court pull-up from 49 feet away — the longest NBA Finals shot since 1998 — uniting all in green into a celebration while pushing the Dallas Mavericks’ halftime deficit to 21. The selfless, distinctive, go-to shot capped off a remarkable 2023-24 season in which Pritchard, a reserve, placed among All-Stars with the NBA’s third-most field goals (16) in a quarter’s final three seconds.

Championship Year