Payton Pritchard hosted a 1-on-1 basketball tournament in Roxbury on Saturday.
ROXBURY, Mass. – Payton Pritchard loves basketball — have you heard?
Earlier this month, the Celtics star dropped 68 points at a Pro-Am tournament in Canada because, as he recounted to CelticsBlog, it was a chance to work on different parts of his game. Plus, the game was officiated by NBA referees, no less.
How could he say no?
Last month, Pritchard travelled to Spain to host a basketball camp in partnership with a longtime friend. And, throughout the summer, he’s hosted full-day basketball clinics for youth across New England.
Still, Pritchard’s most unique offseason basketball endeavor came on Saturday, when he hosted a 1-on-1 basketball competition at the Reggie Lewis Center, an athletic complex in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Kids and adults alike flooded into the gymnasium at 10am for the 1 of One Basketball Tournament, and spent the day competing in high-level games of individual hoops.
“There are a lot of good athletes,” Pritchard told CelticsBlog after the event. “But I really just [wanted] to come out and see good talent, and create an atmosphere of basketball.”
The decision to host a 1-on-1 competition, of all things, was a no-brainer. Pritchard famously loves playing 1-on-1 at practice, often going up against Jaylen Brown and other Celtics teammates. He’s good at it, too; a few months ago, former teammate Jrue Holidaydeemed him the toughest Celtic to guard 1-on-1.
“It’s you and yourself – you can’t blame nobody else,” Pritchard said. “If you lose, it’s on you. It’s not that your teammates were bad… if you ain’t making shots or getting stops, it’s only on you.”
Inside Payton Pritchard’s 1-on-1 tournament
When Pritchard entered the Reggie Lewis Center on Saturday, tournament participants waited by the door, eager to meet him. Several insisted that Pritchard is their favorite player on the Celtics, and as such, as he circled the gymnasium to greet the tournament’s vendors, a massive swarm of kids followed. If Pritchard zagged left, so did the crowd. And, anyone who wanted a photo, a conversation, or an autograph got a few minutes of Pritchard’s time.
Saturday’s tournament featured five divisions: adult men, high school boys, high school girls, middle school boys, and middle school girls, with hundreds of competitors participating across all divisions.
During gameplay, Pritchard watched from the sidelines, cheering on the participants – one moment watching two 15-year-old girls battle, and the next, two adult men competing for a $1,500 prize. Kids competed in a shooting contest, with Celtics tickets at stake.
“You get to really see who has this true competitive spirit,” Pritchard said.
The tournament was run by two athletic trainers who are friends of the Celtics star, Michael Soares and Rocky DeAndrade, and included shooting competitions for free Celtics tickets and other memorabilia.
Pritchard is responsible for the idea behind the full-day tournament, but he credits Soares and DeAndrade for the event’s execution. Hosting these types of tournaments in communities like Roxbury and Dorchester, in particular, is also a priority, Pritchard said.
“I think it’s great for the kids just to come out and compete.”
At youthevents, Pritchard doesn’t give big-picture advice to the young kids, nor does he try to force his basketball mindset onto them. Instead, he gives them on-court advice: pointers for their games, basketball drills, and new habits to incorporate.
“It’s hard to build the mindset, you know what I mean?” Pritchard said. “They either have it or they don’t. But I can give them stuff that – if they are built that way, little routines that they can take every day and help them become the player they wanna be.”
“There are always talented kids, but I try to tell them: it’s a long journey,” Pritchard said. “There are a lot of ups and downs. The kids who make it aren’t necessarily the most talented ones. They’re the most mentally strong ones. That’s the difference.”
Saturday’s tournament is the beginning of something that Pritchard hopes ultimately becomes a long-standing tradition in Boston — a celebration of basketball and a competition of the purest kind.
“It was a great turnout,” Pritchard said. “Hopefully, it just gets better and better. I just want this to keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger — adding new things, new wrinkles. The biggest thing to me is creating this incredible atmosphere – and it just being about the kids.”
Category: General Sports
