Meet the Celtics “super fans” who were in Dallas to cheer on their team

Omar Rodriguez has never been to Boston. But he’s as big a Celtics fan as they come.

When Rodriguez, of El Paso, learned the Celtics would be playing “near” him — El Paso to Dallas is nearly a 10-hour drive — he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to watch the team he loved since the 1980s.

“I started watching basketball and I liked watching Larry Bird, Kevin McHale play against the Lakers, you know, the Pistons – and that’s how I became a Celtics fan,” a- he told GBH News outside the American Airlines Center in Dallas before Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks earlier this week.

Boston may be the belly of the beast for Celtics fans. But even on the road during the NBA Finals, they still have a few loyalists happy to wear the shamrock.

Shortly before Game 4 on Friday, with a potential sweep in hand,
Eastie native Brendan Kelly was on a bike outside the AAC in a black and green Kristaps Porzingis jersey.

“Obviously I get hateful looks and stuff, but I’ve watched every Celtics game at Mavs bars and the locals kind of know me now. And actually, they’ve been really cool, you know what I mean? As you can see, it’s a very passionate sports town, just like Boston,” he said.

Nat Anglin, who grew up in Milton, now lives in Los Angeles and flew to Dallas Thursday night for Game 4, intending to leave early the next morning.

It’s a big commitment, but as he said, he couldn’t imagine a better place to be. Standing outside in the 90-degree Texas heat, wearing a short-sleeve green Celtics warm-up jacket, he said he admired the duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

“And I think they bring out the best of what Boston has to offer in terms of intelligence, diversity and world-class excellence,” he said. “So I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Just outside the American Airlines Center arena before Wednesday’s Game 3, a DJ blasted hits over speakers while fans posed for selfies with larger-than-life photos of the players on a blue Mavericks carpet.

But amid the sea of ​​Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving jerseys were a handful of people in Celtics gear.

Matthew French wore a t-shirt from the 2018 Eastern Conference Finals, when a rookie Jayson Tatum took on LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

French, who lives in Fort Worth, got into sports in Boston starting with the Patriots dynasty and hasn’t looked back.

“So just having the opportunity right here in the backyard to go watch our favorite team, and not only that, they’re the best team we’ve seen,” he said. “So we think they’re going to take it this year.”

Arjun Mahendran, who lives in the Austin area, has been a Celtics fan since their 2008 championship.

“I came straight from work here,” he said. “I couldn’t pass up this opportunity.”

And Anthony Leonardo, originally from Somerset and now living in the Dallas area, described it as “unreal” to watch the Celtics make the NBA Finals in Dallas.

“It would be very expensive to go home, buy tickets and then come back,” he said. “So to have them here against a team that’s hard to root against, even though they have Kyrie (Irving), it’s just awesome.”