BOSTON — The Boston Celtics always have good things to say about their teammates inside the locker room and at the podium. Those meetings with the media are often common places for compliments, especially during a successful season in which the now 55-26 Celtics have exceeded all expectations. But on Friday night, following a 144-118 beatdown of the New Orleans Pelicans at TD Garden, Celtics point guard Payton Pritchard praised somebody who he's never shared the court with.

When asked how the Celtics have utilized an underdog mentality and culture to forge a winning 2025-26 campaign, Pritchard commended head coach Joe Mazzulla and then the aforementioned person who was far from the floor: Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens.

"I think you got to credit Joe for creating a culture of that, but also Brad, picking players that have a chip on their shoulder who love to play basketball," Pritchard said in the locker room. "A lot of us, besides (Jayson Tatum) and (Jaylen Brown), were late-round picks, and so you got to have a chip on your shoulder to make it."

It's rare to see a player offer unprompted admiration for a general manager, yet Stevens isn't an NBA executive who only lurks in the press box or rarely visits the arena. He's a former college coach and Celtics skipper who used to work alongside Pritchard and is more than familiar with the roster he built.

And that squad Stevens developed is indeed littered with underdogs. Friday night was even a showcase of sorts for them.

Pritchard dazzled off the bench with 21 points and 10 assists, Celtics center Luka Garza — who averaged less than 6 minutes per game with the Minnesota Timberwolves last season — recorded 14 points and 6 rebounds in just 16 minutes, and former undrafted wing Sam Hauser bombarded the Pelicans with 24 points (courtesy of 8 triples).

"I feel like a lot of guys in this locker room, every time they get a chance to play, they want to come out and prove that they're worthy of being a rotational player, starter, or whatever it is," Pritchard said.

There's no question that the reigning Sixth Man of the Year is worthy of being a Celtic, and a pregame ceremony served as a reminder of that. Minutes before the Celtics started to pummel the Pelicans, Pritchard received the annual Red Auerbach Award, which goes to a player or coach who best exemplifies what it means to be a Celtic.

"The competitive mindset that he has and the humility to just compete regardless of what's going on, and just continuing to get better as a player," Mazzulla described of what he appreciates about Pritchard. "But also who he is as a person. And it's been an honor to be able to coach him."

Although the 2024 NBA champion hardly qualifies as an underdog now given all that he's accomplished, that's the thing about underdogs: they always find another bit of motivation to latch onto.

Payton Pritchard said the Celtics are going to enjoy the second seed but quickly move on to the playoffs:“You got something else to prove now.” pic.twitter.com/JGHA0J3CPH

"I think you sit back and you have an appreciation of the work we put in and the growth we've made this year to get to this point and the honor of reaching a top seed when many people didn't believe in that," Pritchard said of the Celtics clinching the second seed in the Eastern Conference. "You take a second and take that in, and then after a couple days, you get back to work and you got something else to prove now."

So, just because the Celtics overachieved without star Jayson Tatum healthy for most of the regular season doesn't mean they're satisfied. As Pritchard implied, winning five straight Atlantic Division titles and being the second seed or higher in each of the last five seasons isn't enough.

The Celtics want to prove something in the playoffs, and the only way to do that in Boston is by raising a banner.

This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Payton Pritchard credits Brad Stevens for breeding Celtics underdogs