Jrue Holiday laughed as Boston legend David Ortiz explained how he cheered, screamed and cried throughout the Celtics’ playoff run. Sometimes from court side.
“I can vouch for that,” Holiday said.
Ortiz watched Jaylen Brown change the east finals with his iconic game-tying corner three in Game 1. Later in the series, Holiday had his championship moment with a steal on the final possession ahead by one point that secured an 18-point comeback win over the Pacers and a 3-0 lead.
Three months later, on the eve of training camp, Holiday and Ortiz attended the opening of a Raising Cane’s restaurant at Downtown Crossing commemorating the company’s 28th birthday, Ortiz arriving later in the morning after Holiday and giving the Celtics star a warm embrace. Ortiz said when the Celtics won the championship, watching Game 5 from afar, it felt like he won too. He predicted they’ll repeat in 2024-25, while Holiday said returning 13 players from that championship squad will give them a leg up on the field.
Holiday, Derrick White and Jayson Tatum just concluded their gold medal run in the Paris Olympics this month, Holiday becoming the first focus last fall in the USA’s recruitment while Tatum surprisingly played a limited role and sat out two games. Like Team USA head coach Steve Kerr and other teammates, Holiday thought Tatum handled the situation well by focusing on winning.
“Playing with them is really comfortable,” Holiday when asked by CLNS Media. “Did it for a while and we won together, but I think to go over there and represent our country together was really cool. I think everybody here knows J.T., he’s the ultimate professional. He already knows what it is and what the ultimate goal is. I don’t think he needed any encouragement. I think it was more about staying ready whenever it’s time to be called.”
Tatum and Holiday, who shot 55.6% from the field and 50% from three in the Olympics, won their second gold medals while White earned his first as a late addition in place of Kawhi Leonard. The roster shuffling and loaded forward position made rotations difficult while the field challenged the US in a way America’s national team had never experienced since it became filled with NBA all-stars. That made it a unique experience for Holiday, who already took an Olympic victory lap in 2021 within days of winning his first title. The trash talk reached another level too, Holiday remembered, led by Wolves star Anthony Edwards despite Boston and its three Olympians becoming the last team standing in 2024.
Holiday drew from his past discussing Cane’s, playing from 2013-20 with the New Orleans Pelicans in Louisiana, the home state of the food chain which he ate while there. Trades sent him to Milwaukee, then Boston, as he became one of the league’s most highly regarded defenders and teammates, winning the award for the latter twice. The Bucks won the championship immediately after he arrived, which Boston also experienced, making him one of the city’s sport legends in less than one calendar year.
“They were both different, to be honest,” Holiday said. “Going to Milwaukee was my first one, and 50 years in-between is kind of significant and kind of crazy, but I’m from LA and I grew up a Laker fan, so for one, putting on the green was a bit weird for me the first day. Then, once I got used to the green, we won the championship and it was against the team that, if you hated a team as a Laker fan, it was Boston, but I think once I got acclimated to the city and the fans, this one is crazy.”
“I feel like I keep on saying that. But there’s no word that can describe the feeling after you won that championship. It’s been fun, I think just from the beginning, how I ended up here was insane in the first place. I think the way the city’s embraced me, and being able to do so many successful things in such a short amount of time.”
