If you love basketball, like truly love basketball, then the NBA should be your jam. After all, it is comprised of the very best at the sport.
To get to this level, you usually need to an outlier in some physical category. Whether is be in height, speed, strength, flexibility, verticality, almost all these players are special in some way.
But what about Payton Pritchard? He's neither tall, nor fast. He's insanely strong, and his hops pale in comparison to dudes like Mac McClung. Yet, here he is, now in Year Seven of his career. Two years ago, he was the Sixth Man of the Year (6MOY), and last season, he averaged 17 points per game.
But how has Pritchard managed to thrive against the best without any noticeable superpowers? Well, it's kind of like that famous scene between Might Guy and Rock Lee. Pritchard is a genius of hard work.
Payton Pritchard's work ethic is next level
Listen, everyone who has found their way on an NBA roster works harder than 99% of the population at their craft. However, even among the best of the best, there are those that go above and beyond.
While not fortunate enough to be privileged to every NBA player's offseason workout regiment, I doubt that most of them are going to the extremes that Pritchard does.
In a recent feature interview for ESPN, Pritchard shared some anecdotes about his extreme preparation. One of which is included in the tweet below:
In the summer Payton Pritchard pays for division 2/3 basketball players to travel to Cape Cod to defend him 1-on-1 in a high school gym with no air conditioning where it reaches up to 120 degrees inside, per @espn
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) October 26, 2026
If he shoots under 60% for a day they all “eat like kings” at… pic.twitter.com/POm6j5lMd8
This sounds extreme, but as Pritchard alludes to with his comment about not being as physically gifted as Victor Wembanyama, it takes these sort of measures in order for him to excel in a game filled with athletically superior players.
With Jaylen Brown no longer around, a lot of people have pinpointed Pritchard as a player who will have to take a step forward in order for the Boston Celtics to maintain their relevance in the championship race.
Of course, there is more to the game than isolation scoring. Basketball is a team sport, and there are many ways to drive winning. But Brown's greatest attribute was his ability to create offense for himself. So, it makes sense that Pritchard placed such a heavy emphasis on this portion of his game. It also feeds into the narrative that he could be the league's next Jalen Brunson.
Through the Celtics' first two games, Pritchard was pretty quiet relative to his own lofty standards -- averaging just 10.5 points on 35.7 percent shooting from the floor. However, that changed in Game Three against the Chicago Bulls. In just under 22 minutes of action (he's still coming off the bench), Pritchard torched the Bulls (a not so good defensive team) for 28 points on 62.5 percent shooting from the floor, en route to a 35-point blowout.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Pritchard is the betting favorite to take home the 6MOY award (+230, 30.3 percent implied probability). If he wins his second 6MOY trophy, he will be the sixth player in NBA history to be selected for this award at least twice. Lou Williams and Jamal Crawford have three 6MOY selections.
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