Payton Pritchard reveals Boston’s mindset ahead of the new campaign. It’s not just Boston Celtics’ head coach Joe Mazzulla who thinks that nothing has changed for the team; Payton Pritchard also shares this thought. In fact, if you were to tell him that the Cs will not be among the best teams in the competition this season, he might chase you out of the room. That’s why, during the recent media day held ahead of the 2025-26 season, Pritchard cleared the air around the franchise’s mindset ahead of what’s supposed to be a testing campaign.
“They shouldn’t be in our locker room if they don’t have that mindset. There’s only one mindset – you win championships here. So, it’s not even playoff-bound. We’re going for a championship,” he said. The star guard confirmed that, given the illustrious history of the Celtics franchise, aiming for anything less than a championship is sort of a disrespect toward their caliber. Nonetheless, he did attest to the fact that he doesn’t know what the future holds for them.
“Does that mean that’ll necessarily happen? I don’t know,” Pritchard suggested. While he confirmed that he cannot state that Cs will go out and win the title this season, that’s the goal they’ll have to keep in their minds every day while working out or playing against anyone. This goes to show the elite mentality of Boston’s players and coaches; despite being nowhere near their best, they refuse to give in without putting up a fight. Now, how far will this mindset carry them this season? That’s something we all will have to wait and watch collectively.
Payton Pritchard, bleeding from the neck: “It’s definitely been a war out there.” pic.twitter.com/kHBZKpsAQV
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) October 4, 2025
The Celtics guard’s statement indicated that HC Joe Mazzulla wants his players to get physical this season. But why’s that? Well, King had an explanation for that as well. “Payton Pritchard said Celtics training camp has been physical. He brought up all the aggression OKC gets away with and said the Celtics are emphasizing that type of physicality,” he stated.
It’s not just Boston Celtics’ head coach Joe Mazzulla who thinks that nothing has changed for the team; Payton Pritchard also shares this thought. In fact, if you were to tell him that the Cs will not be among the best teams in the competition this season, he might chase you out of the room. That’s why, during the recent media day held ahead of the 2025-26 season, Pritchard cleared the air around the franchise’s mindset ahead of what’s supposed to be a testing campaign.
The Celtics guard’s statement indicated that HC Joe Mazzulla wants his players to get physical this season. But why’s that? Well, King had an explanation for that as well. “Payton Pritchard said Celtics training camp has been physical. He brought up all the aggression OKC gets away with and said the Celtics are emphasizing that type of physicality,” he stated.
It’s not just Boston Celtics’ head coach Joe Mazzulla who thinks that nothing has changed for the team; Payton Pritchard also shares this thought. In fact, if you were to tell him that the Cs will not be among the best teams in the competition this season, he might chase you out of the room. That’s why, during the recent media day held ahead of the 2025-26 season, Pritchard cleared the air around the franchise’s mindset ahead of what’s supposed to be a testing campaign.