LeBron Gives Surprising Shout-Out to Leader of Troubled Boston Celtics Ready Retention Group

LeBron James was praising the Boston Celtics offense and found a way to surprisingly call out the struggles group leader ready to stay ready Payton Pritchard during his “Mind The Game” Podcast with his potential future Los Angeles Lakers head coach, JJ Redick.

“To be honest, in a 48-minute game, they really only have two iso guys and that’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown,” LeBron prefaced before saying, “Obviously, Payton Pritchard has the ability to play small ball iso like well, but they only have two guys iso, the other guys get out of the way of the pass, they get out of the way of the defense.

Pritchard has produced little to poor shooting in the Finals thus far, having last been a real factor in the Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. That’s not to say he wasn’t a valuable contributor to an Eastern Conference championship team that played historic basketball.

When Boston likely closes the door on the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals, it will almost certainly be because of a mix of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White. Al Horford will probably have his share of timely plays as well.

But the Celtics’ second unit doesn’t have much of an imprint on this series yet. To avoid becoming replaceable in the long term, that needs to change in the C’s closing game; whenever it can happen.

All bets are off if the unthinkable happens Besides. You’d think the core wouldn’t be safe from a trade at this point.

But even with Banner 18, Pritchard has to justify his $8 million salary in this luxury tax climate. Sam Hauser is also expected to get a raise in 2025. The NBA’s CBA is designed to break down these types of special teams.

But they’ll only be special if they take matters into their own hands and deliver Boston the deciding title in the NBA’s all-time title race.