It’s been one year since the reports surfaced of Jrue Holiday’s trade to the Boston Celtics.
October 1, 2023, was quite the day. I was driving to the gym when I got the notification from Adrian Wojnarowski’s tweet breaking the news. I immediately turned around and sped home to record an instant reaction for the “How ‘Bout Them Celtics” YouTube channel.
Boston had just landed a player who had helped the rival Milwaukee Bucks win an NBA title just three years earlier and had gone to battle against them several times.
At the time, I think we all knew that Holiday was a great fit with the Cs. He was going to replace what Marcus Smart had brought to the team before being traded — and then some. There was also the layer of him bringing some championship experience to a team that had come close to the goal many times, but never quite finished the job.
According to The Ringer’s Mirin Fader, the 34-year-old made it clear, during his first practice at the Auerbach Center, that he was willing to do whatever it took to win, telling his teammates that he was there to “help in any way.”
Holiday delivered on that promise and proved to be the ultimate shapeshifter for Boston (it would feel pretty criminal to not mention Derrick White here too, as he also shapeshifted all year). Whether the Celtics asked Jrue to defend and drill threes (of which he made a career-high 42.9%), or to be the leading scorer in a playoff game, he came through.
Despite logging his lowest usage rate since his rookie season with the Philadelphia 76ers, Holiday was able to make his presence felt every single night. Some players’ frustration with a lack of responsibility on offense would bleed over and affect their defensive effort.
Not Holiday.
He earned his fourth consecutive All-Defensive selection and was named to the league’s Second Team. We got to see him take on unique assignments all season long. Early on, head coach Joe Mazzulla tasked the six-foot-four guard with defending All-Star caliber big men, like Joel Embiid and Julius Randle. It was a task that he took care of just fine, which cemented him as a winner to teammate Al Horford early on.
“For a guy of his stature to come in here and be so willing and genuinely care about…
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