Though his time with the Boston Celtics was not long, Celtics fan favorite forward Malik Fitts cherishes his time playing with the team in the 2021-22 season. The Celtics Wire caught up with Fitts after his current squad, the Ontario Clippers (the G League affiliate of the Los Angeles team of the same name), beat the Mexico City Capitanes 103-96 on the road.
Still visibly exhausted from the win, Fitts made a point of noting how the elevation of Arena de Mexico at 7,350 feet impact his and the Clippers’ game against the Capitanes, requiring considerable effort to pull out the victory.
“It’s a tough slog here because of the elevation,” admitted Fitts. “It’s actually my first time in Mexico.”
Beloved for his bench celebrations by fans and teammates alike, the Saint Mary’s alum explained that his intense support of his teammates was “just all-natural” to him, with no forethought put into it.
“I’ve been like that since I was a little kid coming into high school, college, and the NBA. I always just try and bring that energy as much as I can, because I think that players feed off that, and sometimes, they go on a run.”
“It’s always good to have somebody that had the energy to pick you right back up and send it back home.,” he continued.
When talking about his time in Boston, a smile came over Fitts’ face, the Californian relating that “it was probably one of the best memories I’ve ever had.”
Joining the Celtics after being cut by the Utah Jazz last season, Fitts played his way into a rest-of-season deal with Boston, appearing in nine games for the Celtics in the postseason, including getting onto the floor in the 2022 NBA Finals.
“I got a chance to learn and see like what it takes to win at that level,” he related.
“It takes a lot of dedication, a lot of grit to come out and win those series, and that was just a great learning experience and I got a chance to learn and try to use that in my everyday (habits), perfecting my craft and trying to better myself.”
Fitts shared that he still keeps in touch with some of the Celtics who were part of the 2022 Finals run as well.
New head coach Joe Mazzulla has been turning heads with what he’s been doing with the Celtics this season, and Fitts shared he’s been keeping tabs on his former assistant coach’s work in his new role as well. “I saw how much (he was doing) when he was an assistant coach last year, how good he was,” he explained. “He was special, he was running the scout.”
He takes that job real serious, as you can tell” said Fitts in perhaps something of an understatement. “When they interview him, he doesn’t mess around, and gets straight to it.”
“He’s a great coach,” added the former Celtics forward. “They just extended him for a couple more years, and I think (the Celtics) are going to do a good job. He’s going to do a good job.”
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Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire