NEW YORK CITY — Throughout the first few weeks of the regular season, Jordan Walsh was racking up DNPs. But through that time, Jaylen Brown continued to instill confidence in him.
“We sit next to each other on the plane, so I talk to him all the time,” Brown said. “That’s what this team needs — somebody that can go out and guard your best player every single night. And even when Jordan wasn’t playing, I was telling him — ‘That could be you.’”
Walsh didn’t ask for permission before sitting next to Brown on the plane — Kristaps Porzingis was gone, and the seat was available.
“I just sat down,” said the 21-year-old with a smile. “He doesn’t get a choice.”
Walsh didn’t know it at the time, but those early conversations may have translated to extensive on-court opportunities.
“We were talking about how we felt like we needed a guy who can go in and guard the best player every night,” Walsh said. “He kept saying to me, he said, ‘I think it’s you. I think it could be you.’ I was like, ‘All right. I’m with you. I think so, too.’ So he’s like, ‘ I’m gonna have a conversation with Joe, and we can go from there.’ I was like, ‘All right, cool.’”
Walsh never followed up on whether Brown actually went to Mazzulla: “He told me he was gonna do it. I don’t know if he actually did it, but he said he would.”
A couple of weeks ago, everything changed, and Walsh was thrust into the rotation for the first time. And, now for now, he’s in the starting lineup, too — Walsh started against both the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday and the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday.
In hindsight, Brown’s belief in Walsh meant a lot to him.
“It definitely felt like he kind of trusted in me, without even having a sort of proof of it,” Walsh said. “I mean, obviously, we have practice, and some Summer League stuff, and whatnot — but him going out of his way to have that conversation, I think makes a big difference, because it shows that he trusts me. And so, ever since then, I just kind of got to prove to those guys that I can be trusted.”
Some of Brown’s faith in the unproven forward may have stemmed from his first-hand experience. For the past three seasons, Walsh has frequently guarded players like Brown and Jayson Tatum in practice, all while carefully studying the defensive instincts of guys like Jrue Holiday.
Walsh and Brown have often battled at practice, even during the many months in which Walsh was completely out of the rotation.
“We play one-on-one a lot,” Walsh said. “We play two-on-two and stuff like that, where I’ve been on him, he’s been guarding me. Just kind of back-and-forth type of competitive energy.”
Jordan Walsh’s defensive success has impressed his teammates
The results have been undeniable: in the past week, Walsh has been thrust into the starting lineup and received some of the toughest defensive assignments in the league. In the last 10 days, he has guarded Orlando Magic forwards Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner, Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey, Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr, and Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden.
All four players present unique challenges, and against all four, he demonstrated an impressive defensive versatility. He held Banchero and Wagner to a combined 3-7 shooting, Maxey to 1-9 shooting, Jackson to 0-5 shooting, and Harden to 3-7 shooting.
“I want to shut them down,” Walsh said of his mindset when drawing difficult defensive assignments. “I think that I want to make my mark in the league, and it starts with me defending guys like that.”
All the while, he’s earned respect and praise from his Celtics teammates.
“He’s been doing a heck of a job defending. We need that,” said Payton Pritchard. “He brings the energy guarding the best player every night, and I think that’s his calling card.”
“He’s got his opportunity, and he’s playing well right now,” Brown said. “So we got to keep that.”
Joe Mazzulla has known Walsh for three seasons now. Last year, he rarely turned to him for real rotation minutes.
But the Celtics roster is completely different, and a brand-new opportunity is available. It’s still early, but so far, Walsh has seized that opportunity.
“That’s the role – that’s what you have to become, is a guy that can guard anybody on any given night,” Mazzulla said. “And, he’s embracing that.”
