The Boston Celtics are no stranger to former players returning to the team to serve as an assistant coach — think Dana Barros and Sam Cassell for a pair of recent examples — and sometimes, they are still close enough to their playing days that they might even be able to suit up for the team. Such was the case for Boston alum and former assistant coach Evan Turner according to Payton Pritchard in an appearance on Turner’s “Point Forward” podcast.
“When I was supposed to have a day off,” said Turner, hinting at the contours of his relationship with the indefatigable Pritchard as his assistant coach, “I can guarantee you Payton’s talking, ‘You want to get some work in tomorrow?’ … This dude really works hard!”
“I love the game,” answered Pritchard. “But I used to tell him, we were just talking and I was like ‘ET was the best one to go against because he could have played with us;’ he would have been in the eight, nine-man rotation.”
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“We actually needed him,” added the Celtics guard. “In practice, we were watching, he can go still, and he’s over here coaching’. I’m like, ‘I need to be playing against him. That’s who is going to make me better.”
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