For some, it was Larry Bird, and for others, it’s Luka Doncic. However, for legendary basketball player Allen Iverson, the tag of the “coldest” white NBA player goes to Payton Pritchard.
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Pritchard was sitting on the Celtics bench in Game 3 of the first round of the playoffs in April last season. That’s when he felt a tap on his shoulder. When he turned around, he was faced with the NBA legend himself.
“You’re the coldest white boy I’ve ever seen.” Allen Iverson told Pritchard, as the Celtics player recalled in a conversation with ESPN.
Pritchard finished that game with 15 points, shooting 5-for-10 from the 3-point line.
The next game he played, Pritchard was on fire. He scored 18 in the first half while the starting five had contributed about 24 at that point in the game. Therefore, he helped carry the team to a brilliant lead as a bench player.
In that playoff game, he achieved his career high 32-points. After all, being complimented by none other than Iverson brings the best out of anyone. He’s been an exceptional bench player for the Celtics, despite the team falling to the 76ers in that playoff series.
In fact, he’s one of the league’s best isolation players. Last season, his isolation field goal percentage stood at around 58.6% as per ESPN. This helped him trump Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic, the other big names on the “coldest white boy” list of contenders. He was even averaging 1.30 points per iso possession, according to Stat Defender.
Payton Pritchard is 6’1 while Iverson stands at almost 6 feet tall. Perhaps the legend sees parts of himself in the Celtics’ bench player who has put up astonishing numbers for the team over the years.
Regardless, the Celtics roster is a point of contention in the 2026-27 season. The team traded star Jaylen Brown to none other than the Philadelphia 76ers after losing to the team last season and getting eliminated from the playoffs.
Now, Jayson Tatum remains the sole franchise player, or so fans believe given Brown’s controversial exit. Can Payton Pritchard be a starting player? There’s potential.
Last season, he started 50 games after the Boston Celtics traded Jrue Holiday to the Trail Blazers and Jayson Tatum sustained an Achilles injury. During that time, Payton Pritchard maintained an average of 17 points per game while shooting 46.4% from the field.
His success in one-on-one plays made him a key starter for the team, and yet, it still wasn’t enough to push the Celtics past the finish line in the playoffs. Now, they have another chance.
Pritchard is still in the 6th man role. He scored 17 points against the Detroit Pistons in the team’s opening-night loss this season. However, he only scored 4 points against the Knicks most recently. If the Celtics want more this year, the team has to pull more out of its star bench player.