Getty Kristaps Porzingis
Because of Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, four-time NBA champion Andre Iguodala has high expectations for the Boston Celtics. During his appearance on ESPN’s NBA Today, Iguodala explained why he believes the Celtics are the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference while singling out Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in the process.
Iguodala started with how big a fan he is of his former Philadelphia 76ers teammate.
“[Jrue Holiday] is the most underrated player of this generation. … This guy’s different.”
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“Jrue Holiday…is the most underrated player of this generation,” Iguodala said on October 20. “This guy is different. He’s dissimilar. Every team he’s been on maximized their potential. Regardless of they were making a run to the championship.”
Iguodala then added why Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday factor into him picking the Celtics to come out of the Eastern Conference.
“I’m a huge Jrue Holiday fan. I know what he brings to the table. He’s a great balance for them. I feel like Porzingis is in a really good situation for them, so I’m going with the Celtics until they prove me wrong.”
Iguodala played with Holiday on the Sixers from 2009 to 2012 before winning four titles with the Golden State Warriors. His experience playing with Holiday, including almost beating the Celtics in the 2012 Eastern Conference Semifinals, may factor in his belief that his ex-teammate is underrated.
Rajon Rondo ‘Loves’ Jrue Holiday Addition
While visiting the Celtics’ practice facility, ex-Celtics star Rajon Rondo explained why he’s a big fan of the Celtics adding Holiday to the squad.
“I love the Jrue Holiday pick-up,” Rondo told reporters, per CLNS Media Boston Sports Network’s YouTube Channel. “He’s one of my favorite teammates I’ve ever played with all-time, and I’m excited for you guys to see what he can bring night in, night out.”
Rondo elaborated further on why he’s a fan of Holiday.
“Just his mentality, his mindset, his professional approach to the game, and just what he brings out there on the court. He does a lot of intangibles, he’s a very unselfish guy, and he’s fun to be around. But he’s a winner. He’s a competitor,” Rondo said.
Rondo and Holiday played together on the New Orleans Pelicans during the 2017-18 season. They went on their longest playoff run since 2008, having gone to the Western Conference Semifinals.
Kristaps Porzingis Impressed With Jrue Holiday
Despite being added so late into the offseason, Holiday has impressed Porzingis with his play thus far. Porzingis made note of that on October 17.
“Yeah, honestly, since he got here, he’s been looking for me in practices and games, and we’ve been all kind of putting in our minds that we want to play for each other. We wanna enjoy each other’s success, and Jrue has been phenomenal from the moment that he got here,” Porzingis said during his postgame press conference.
Porzingis also noted how quickly Holiday has been able to acclimate himself to the Celtics from the start.
“Just thinking about his situation getting traded from one of the biggest rivals to the rival team, it’s crazy. He was able to jump in with us and just be a great teammate from the first moment he got there and just be the same dog that he is on defense and then making the game easy for me and for us offensively also. He’s been nothing but awesome with us.”
Everyone has to be on the same page for the Celtics to reach their goals. Even if they haven’t played a minute of regular-season basketball together yet, Porzingis and Holiday appear to be on the same wavelength.