Mike Conley hasn’t played a regular-season game for the Celtics yet, and he’s already giving Boston exactly what it hoped to buy.
The 19-year veteran arrived with a reputation that stretches well beyond box scores. Brad Stevens pointed to Conley’s leadership and his knack for helping teams win when Boston signed him, and that presence is already showing up at training camp. For a Celtics team that brought him in on a one-year, $3.9 million deal, the early returns are less about points and assists and more about the way he carries himself.
Payton Pritchard made it clear why Conley has long been so respected around the league. “I think he’s won the teammate awards because of the kind of person he is, and like, just reliable and just a good dude and somebody you can always talk to and lean on,” Pritchard said about Conley. “But for me, somebody that looked up to Mike, it’s like how he thinks of the game and how he was able to create his shots and create shots for his teammates, and maybe handle playing the point guard position, momentum swings.
“You know, he’s been in a lot of great environments, great playoff series, and like how was he able to kill in those moments and dominate the game.”
That kind of credibility comes from a career that has lasted into its 20th season. Conley is a one-time All-Star with one All-Defensive team selection, and while an NBA championship has eluded him, he’s been a central piece on deep playoff teams in Memphis, Utah and Minnesota.
His résumé also includes something no one else in league history has matched: four NBA Sportsmanship Awards. He’s one of only five players to win the award more than once, which helps explain why his arrival in Boston has come with so much praise from teammates and coaches alike.
Joe Mazzulla echoed that view at camp, saying Conley’s influence shows up in the smallest daily details. “Leadership just comes naturally to him, and I think people flock to him in general as being a great teammate,” Mazzulla said.
“I think it’s really just his personality. You know, like I said, leadership becomes very natural to him.
He’s constantly coming into the building worrying about others and not worrying about himself, which I think says a lot about him, but also the experience of you know of what he’s been in, and he comes in very present.”
Conley’s role with the Celtics is still taking shape, but the part Boston wanted most was already obvious: he brings instant trust, steadying influence and a veteran voice that people around him seem eager to follow.
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