Celtics Make 'No-Brainer' Payton Pritchard Announcement on Friday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Matt Audilet | Last updated Jun 20, 2025 4:11 PM ET

While the Boston Celtics fell short of their championship aspirations in 2024-25, the team had some notable bright spots shine throughout this past year's NBA campaign.

Fifth-year Celtics guard Payton Pritchard put together the best season of his young NBA career, averaging a career-high 14.3 points on 47.2% shooting from the field and 40.7% shooting from behind the three-point arc.

Pritchard accomplished these impressive statistics through 77 games off the bench in 2024-25. As such, he was recognized with the NBA's coveted Sixth Man of the Year trophy earlier this year.

Unsurprisingly, Pritchard was also recognized as the Celtics' Sixth Man of the Year winner in an announcement on Friday.

"The biggest no-brainer of our Awards Series: our Sixth Man of the Year," the team wrote on X.

The biggest no-brainer of our Awards Series: our Sixth Man of the Year https://t.co/SFZIz1b4FS
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 20, 2025

This Sixth Man of the Year trophy marks Pritchard's second honor of the Celtics' postseason award series. The former No. 26 pick was also recognized as the team's Most Improved Player.

The Celtics still have one more postseason award to announce: the Sharpshooter of the Year. Pritchard is certainly a candidate for this award as well as he boasted the team's best three-point percentage of any player averaging at least one attempt per game.

The Celtics' 2024-25 season came to an end with a second-round playoff loss the the New York Knicks. In Game 4, Boston superstar Jayson Tatum suffered an Achilles tendon tear.

With Tatum out for the majority of the 2025-26 season, Pritchard will likely serve an even more integral role in the Celtics' upcoming NBA campaign.