Jordan Walsh is in a fascinating spot with the Boston Celtics, hitting that in-between stage of his career. At 22 years old and entering his fourth year in the league, he’s still young enough to be lumped in with the new prospects, but he’s also already been around a championship team and can casually drop knowledge bombs he picked up from Jrue Holiday. He wasn’t even with Boston’s Summer League crew this July, so he’s not exactly the fresh face anymore, but he’s also not a lock in the rotation like Derrick White or Neemias Queta. It’s a tricky spot, and honestly, listening to him at Media Day, he gets it. Walsh is flipping his mentality to what he calls a “high role player IQ,” all about “affecting the game in ways without the ball.”
The “Little Things” Become Everything
For most young players, you think about development as adding flashy new moves: a better jumper, a tighter handle, bulking up, new counters. Walsh definitely has plenty he can still improve, but his challenge now is different. The Celtics aren’t about to hand him the rock for 15 possessions to show off everything he worked on. If he earns real minutes, he’ll be on the floor while Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, or Paul George are doing the main scoring. Walsh has to figure out how to make a difference anyway. He’s honed in on “affecting the game without the ball, primarily on offense.” That means things like “trying to sprint the floor, trying to get in transition, trying to run and be an outlet guy, get on cuts.” Yeah, it’s not the highlight reel stuff, but that gritty work, those “little things,” can absolutely carve out a career in this league.
The Jrue Holiday Effect
Walsh made it clear at Media Day where this “role player IQ” idea came from: Jrue Holiday. He straight up said, “I felt like Jrue Holiday was a big piece of that, big representative of that. I’ve tried to take as much as I can from him, obviously on the defensive side.” That just makes sense, right? Holiday is one of the premier defenders of his generation, and Walsh came into the league with defense as his clearest path to sticking around. But Walsh’s answer wasn’t just about defense. He talked about digging into film, seeing how much better the Celtics played when guys understood where the offense *actually* needed to go. It was all about making life easier for stars like Tatum or Jaylen Brown.
So, as we head into what’s next, keep an eye on Jordan Walsh. He’s not chasing the spotlight; he’s chasing impact. If he can master that “role player IQ” he’s talking about, he’s not just carving out a spot for himself, he’s making the Celtics a tougher team to beat. It’s going to be wild to see how that plays out on the court.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Celtics Blog.
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