How Celtics can reinvigorate Malcolm Brogdon and his relentless desire to win

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Forsberg: Why Boston is the perfect fit for a reinvigorated Brogdon originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Malcolm Brogdon is impossibly cool and collected. The man nicknamed, “The President” often feels unflappable. But beneath the composed exterior lies a competitor hellbent on winning.

Those who know Malcolm Brogdon best believe he is the missing piece to the Celtics’ championship desires. Since the surprising offseason trade that delivered the soon-to-be 30-year-old to Boston, Brogdon has pledged to do whatever he can to help the team with a singular goal of tasting a championship.

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“Still waters run deep,” said University of Virginia men’s basketball coach Tony Bennett. “He’s a fierce competitor. He’s so driven and in the right way. He has a humility about him but do not mistake that … [there is a] toughness and a fierce competitor. He’ll want to cut your heart out. He wants to win. He wants to figure it out.”

It seems impossible that Brogdon has only been in the league for six years. But after experiencing some tantalizing success early in his career — winning the 2017 Rookie of the Year despite being the 36th overall pick, and surging to the Eastern Conference Finals with the Bucks in 2019 — Brogdon arrives in Boston ready to sacrifice any individual desires to help push the Celtics over their final hump.

And he thinks these Celtics perfectly mesh with his own personality.

“These guys are locked in,” said Brogdon. “They know what they want. There’s one goal in mind and guys are just focused. When the guys are in the gym, there’s not a lot of joking, there’s not a lot of laughing. It’s a lot of what my vibe is — I’m all about business when I step in the gym. I consider myself between the lines as soon as I enter the facility every day. So I enjoy the vibe of that, it’s a very worksmanship approach. Guys are focused.”

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A little more than a decade ago, Brogdon plopped on a couch in Bennett’s office as an unheralded high school recruit and asked to be pushed in a way that might deliver him to the NBA level. Bennett believes that insatiable desire to succeed will allow Brogdon to thrive in Boston.

Celtics Talk: UVA’s Tony Bennett on reinvigorated Malcolm Brogdon: “He wants to win” | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube

“The thing that I sold Malcolm on, way back when recruiting him … don’t take a backseat. No backseats. He just wanted a chance to go against the best,” said Bennett. “He wanted to compete against the Carolinas and the Dukes, and — obviously you’ve got a Duke guy [Jayson Tatum] on your team — but that’s what drove him. And now that he’s tasted that and he’s been successful, that still hasn’t changed. He’s very competitive and he will not back down. And he loves that.

“When you see him matching up on the LeBrons, or different guys, he takes great pride in getting a stop, being tough-minded. And I think this will reinvigorate him. I think you’re gonna see him just fill in the right pieces and then, at times, be able to take over games in his way. But just do what’s required to win.  And that’s what I think Celtics fans appreciate over the years, and will appreciate in him.”

The addition of Brogdon was a jaw-dropper around the league. The Celtics were able to secure him at a relatively low cost, packaging a protected 2023 first-round pick with the sort of end-of-the-bench collection of players that even your NBA 2K game might reject. But the Pacers wanted off his bloated salary and the Celtics were willing to spend to increase their chances of getting back to the NBA Finals.

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His arrival invigorated the returning core.

“Bringing a guy like Malcolm in just makes us that much better,” said Al Horford. “I believe that we have a chance to be where we want to be … but I’m really excited about the upside of our group.”

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Is Brogdon truly the missing piece? Does he believe he can push this team over the top?

“I do. I think I can help them,” Brogdon said with his usual steely demeanor. “I think what I bring to the team, this is something that the team is missing in some ways. But I think I can definitely help.”

Brogdon made it a point to embrace a potential Sixth Man role upon his arrival. Injuries in Boston’s frontcourt could provide an opportunity to start, or at the very least play hefty minutes, and Brogdon is on board with whatever can help the team most.

He also knows how important it is for players to understand their place in the hierarchy and embrace those roles.

I wanted to send a message to the guys on this team that, regardless of what I was doing in Indiana, I’m willing to sacrifice to win.

Malcolm Brogdon on embracing a Sixth Man role

“It was really important to me because I wanted to send a message to the guys on this team that, regardless of what I was doing in Indiana, I’m willing to sacrifice to win to be a part of what you guys got going. It’s not about me, it’s about the team,” said Brogdon. “So I wanted guys to know that, openly and upfront, that I’m in it for the team, even if I play a smaller role here than I did wherever else I was.

“Defined roles are the biggest thing in the NBA. Guys that find themselves out of the NBA are guys that don’t know what they do and who they are in the NBA. The guys that are delusional. You come across them, honestly, on every team. There’s a guy or two like that on every team, that wants a bigger role, that want to be the main guy, that want more shots, that want more time, that want this or that.

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“Really, you have to figure out who you are early on in the NBA and stick to it. Guys like Al Horford are the prime example of that. He’s been an All-Star, he’s done amazing things, he’s been incredibly accomplished, and is a big winner in the league. But Al knows who he is. He never gets outside of himself, he never has.”

The opportunity to play alongside Horford made coming to Boston all the more enticing to Brogdon, who also had strong relationships with players like Jaylen Brown and Grant Williams before arriving. All three are vice presidents for the NBA Players Association.

Even those in Boston’s overstocked backcourt have welcomed Brogdon with open arms.

“Oh, it’s gonna be great. It’s another person we can throw in and relieve some pressure off of everybody else,” said starting point guard Marcus Smart. “Another guy who understands the game, another guy who’s going to come and compete, another guy who’s very damn good at it.

“So he only amps us up, amplifies everything that we bring to this team with the guys we already had. Now you add a guy like him and it’s only intensified.”

Echoed Tatum: “I think [Brogdon can help us take the final step.] Ultimate professional, ultimate competitor. He can play-make, can dribble, can shoot, can defend. He’s a big physical guard. He’s tough.

“I’ve played against him for a couple years now so I know what he brings. I’m extremely happy that we have him.”

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