The Boston Celtics finally were able to get over the hump and win an NBA championship, defeating the Mavs in five games in emphatic fashion to capture their first title in 16 years. While stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown (who earned Finals MVP honors) got the understandable spotlight after winning it all, what set this Boston team apart from the rest of the league was how every player seemed to embrace and thrive in the role they were asked to play. Derrick White emerged as an elite two-way point guard, helping lead at the point of attack on both ends of the floor.
Al Horford, the grizzled vet of the squad, bounced between a sixth man role and a starting job with Kristaps Porzingis in and out of the lineup, doing whatever was needed to keep the ship steady. Payton Pritchard saw his minutes dwindle a bit in the Finals, but made his impact felt with a pair of end of quarter heaves that found the bottom of the net and sent the Celtics and their crowd into a frenzy. That trio stopped by Gillette’s headquarters on Monday for what’s with Gillette donating $25,000 each to three charities in their name: Special Olympics Massachusetts, Edgerley Family South Boston Boys & Girls Club, and Best Buddies in Massachusetts & Rhode Island.
After getting a fresh shave, the three champions sat down with DIME over Zoom to talk about how they found their roles on this title team, what made this group special, and debated which of their teammates celebrated the title the hardest. You defini.
