Jordan Walsh Is Making His Mark - And the League Is Taking Notice
It took less than a minute into the Celtics’ December 11 showdown with the Bucks for Jordan Walsh to announce his presence. A quick steal off Ryan Rollins led to a Jaylen Brown dunk, and on the very next possession, Walsh hounded Kevin Porter Jr. full court, eventually picking his pocket too. That kind of defensive energy doesn’t just show up in the box score - it sets a tone.
The Celtics didn’t get the win that night, but Walsh’s impact was undeniable. He finished with 20 points, eight boards, and three steals.
After the game, Porter pulled him aside and said, “Thank you for making me better tonight.” Bobby Portis, a fellow Arkansas alum, told Walsh he wanted his jersey for his home gym next time they faced off.
And just days earlier, Lakers guard Austin Reaves had said he could see Walsh becoming one of the league’s elite defenders for years to come.
That kind of respect doesn’t come easy - especially for a second-year player who spent most of his first season watching from the bench.
So how did Walsh go from garbage-time minutes to locking up stars and earning praise from veterans across the league?
“A hunger to be the best,” Walsh said.
He’s had a front-row seat to greatness since day one. His rookie year ended with a championship ring, and his daily practice battles have come against names like Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porziņģis, and Derrick White.
If you want to learn how to win, that’s a pretty good classroom. And Walsh has been taking notes.
But even with the work he put in over the offseason and the roster shakeups Boston went through, Walsh still needed a little help to get his shot. That’s where Jaylen Brown stepped in.
Walsh started the season with four DNPs in the first eight games. He sits next to Brown on team flights, and during one of those rides, Brown told him he was going to talk to head coach Joe Mazzulla about giving Walsh a chance.
"We were talking about how we felt like we needed a guy who can go in and guard the best player every night,” Walsh recalled. “He kept saying to me, ‘I think it’s you.
I think it could be you.’ I was like, ‘All right.
I’m with you.’ So he’s like, ‘I’m gonna have a conversation with Joe, and we can go from there.’”
Whatever that conversation looked like, it worked. Walsh was inserted into the rotation on November 5 against the Wizards - and he hasn’t looked back.
“It’s huge,” Walsh said of Brown’s support. “He’s a good mentor. I feel like I’m getting to a point where he can trust me night-in, night-out.”
That trust paid off in a big way on November 11 against the Sixers. Walsh played nearly the entire second half and turned in a defensive clinic against Tyrese Maxey, who went just 5-for-17 from the field - his worst shooting night of the season. According to NBA tracking data, Maxey was 1-of-9 when guarded by Walsh.
The next night, Walsh got the start against Memphis. He hasn’t left the starting lineup since. The Celtics are 10-4 in games he’s started, climbing to fourth in the East in what was supposed to be a transitional year.
And it’s not just Maxey who’s felt Walsh’s defensive presence.
- Cade Cunningham: 0-of-6 shooting in 28 possessions on Nov. 26
- Donovan Mitchell: 2-of-8 in 43 possessions on Nov. 30
- Austin Reaves: 0-of-3 in 23 possessions on Dec. 5
Walsh isn’t picking favorites when it comes to his defensive highlights - but he knows what this stretch means. “That’s the type of stuff where the résumé builds up,” he said.
According to databallr, Walsh is holding opponents to 7.7% below their average shooting percentage - that’s 96th percentile league-wide. For a second-year wing, that’s elite territory.
At 6-foot-7 with a 7-foot-2 wingspan and the type of lateral quickness coaches dream about, Walsh has the physical tools to be a nightmare matchup. But it’s his mindset that’s making the difference.
“He’s just tenacious,” said teammate Baylor Scheierman. “Non-stop, playing super hard, super physical.”
That relentlessness has a downside - Walsh is still learning how to stay on the floor. He’s averaging seven fouls per 100 possessions and has picked up four or more fouls in half of his appearances.
That foul trouble limited him to just 18 minutes in the Celtics’ recent loss to the Pistons. It’s a part of his game he’ll need to clean up, especially as the matchups get tougher and the minutes more meaningful.
But defense has never been the question with Walsh. What’s kept him in the starting lineup is the surprising - and rapid - growth on the offensive end.
In 11 games as a starter, Walsh is putting up 9.7 points per game on eye-popping shooting splits: 64.6% from the field, 50% from three, and 87% from the line. That’s not just efficient - that’s scorching.
He credits his offensive leap to finding the right “pockets to be aggressive,” but more than anything, it’s been about the work behind the scenes.
“The media doesn’t see it, sometimes my teammates don’t see it because I’m in there on off days, I’m in there at night,” Walsh said. “The backbone, the foundation of getting better and being able to affect the game is the work you put in.”
His finishing at the rim is sharper. His catch-and-shoot game from beyond the arc has taken a leap. And while he’s unlikely to sustain these percentages forever, even a regression to league-average shooting would make him a highly valuable 3-and-D piece - especially when Jayson Tatum returns and the rotation tightens.
“I feel like every level I’ve been at in my career, I’ve been that kind of underdog type of guy who’s been overlooked because ‘he can’t do this, he can’t do that,’” Walsh said. “I work my butt off and I prove all that wrong and it’s like, ‘now he’s here.’”
He’s here, all right - and the rest of the league is starting to take notice.