Payton Pritchard is not exactly a household name. However, he's done enough in his two-year career with the Boston Celtics to earn a little bit of recognition. As a matter of fact, the 24-year-old was actually given the unenviable task of trying to guard Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry during the NBA Finals this past season. That didn't exactly end well for Pritchard and the Celtics, but his nationwide exposure has to count for something, right?
Well, apparently, all these weren't enough for Pritchard to get past security during Saturday's NBA Summer League contest. As it turns out, the Celtics guard doesn't have a face-value level of authority to get unlimited access during games — not even in the Summer League:
Well, this was rather embarrassing… Celtic guard Payton Pritchard stopped by security. Wouldn't let him into restricted area so he could sit with C's coaches. VP of communications Taylor Kielpinski-Rogers had to vouch for him. Pritchard burned the strings in this gym last year. pic.twitter.com/d7MuKUt2dj
— Steve Bulpett (@SteveBHoop) July 9, 2022
To be fair, it wasn't exactly NBA security that prevented Pritchard from entering the restricted area. The Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas does not usually host NBA events very often, which is probably the reason why event security didn't recognize the Celtics stud. Either way, it must have been a pretty embarrassing moment for the former Oregon standout — and the security team as well when they realized who he was.
Payton Pritchard's team option for the 2022-23 season was recently picked up by the Celtics. This means that he's likely going to be part of the team next term. That is, of course, under the assumption that Pritchard does not get traded this offseason. He then has one more year on his rookie deal (another team option) before he potentially enters free agency in the summer of 2024.
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