Celtics, Hornets game marked 1 special reunion

BOSTON — For the first time in two years, when Xavier Tillman took the TD Garden parquet for his pregame shooting, he wasn’t donning Celtics green.

Instead, the 26-year-old forward wore Hornets blue, making his return to Boston for the first time since he was unexpectedly traded to the Charlotte Hornets last month.

And, from the moment he stepped onto the parquet, more than two hours before tip-off, Tillman was in reunion-mode.

First, he embraced all of the Celtics assistant and player development coaches. Then, over the course of the next 45 minutes, he caught up with former teammates, giving Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez both big hugs, and catching up with everyone from the ball boys to the equipment staff to team security.

After his shooting workout concluded, Tillman tried to head back to the visiting locker room. But, with nearly every step he took, he ran into yet another member of the Celtics organization, and immediately broke into jovial conversation.

It was quintessential Xavier Tillman.

“[He] has great relationships with the staff,” said Joe Mazzulla.

Tillman ultimately got a tribute video in Wednesday’s game, a 118-89 Hornets win over the Celtics. The video highlighted some of his biggest plays for the 2024 Finals, including a clutch three-pointer and a block on Luka Doncic.

He ended up getting a second major round of applause when he checked into the game with 4 minutes to play; the TD Garden crowd was eager to celebrate him despite the fact that Wednesday’s game had gone to the wayside for the Celtics.

Tillman looked so comfortable in reunion-mode that it was hard to believe that just a month ago, he was a member of the Celtics answering questions about his peers getting traded. Just a few weeks ago in the Dallas Mavericks visiting locker room, it was Tillman who reflected on the Anfernee Simons trade.

“They always talk about it being a business, but you build relationships with people, and you grow to really care about them and their families,” Tillman said then. “And it’s always tough to see your friends get separated from you.”

Little did he know, his tenure in Boston was also in its final days.

Inside trade deadline day for Xavier Tillman

Tillman started thinking that a trade might be coming when moves began piling up ahead of the trade deadline. First, it was the Anfernee Simons trade, which came a few days ahead of the deadline.

“I had some inklings after Ant got traded that, ‘ok, we’re making some moves,‘” Tillman said pregame on Wednesday.

Then, in the hours leading up to the deadline, the Celtics traded Josh Minott to the Brooklyn Nets and Chris Boucher to the Utah Jazz. The team was on the way home from a two-game Texas roadtrip, and Tillman was about to head home from the airport when he got word that it’d be his last day in green.

“My agent was like, ‘Yeah, I think something’s going to happen,‘” Tillman said.

After two years in Boston, Tillman’s time was up, and a new chapter in Charlotte began.

The good news? He immediately reunited with a few familiar faces: three coaches from the 2024 Celtics championship team. Former lead assistant coach Charles Lee was now the head coach in Charlotte, while player development coaches Jermaine Bucknor and Blaine Mueller were now Hornets assistants.

“Those guys welcomed me with open arms, and it’s been really seamless for me to be here on this team,” Tillman said. “The guys have welcomed me in, shown me their culture, and it’s been easy to really buy into what they got.”

Lee was especially excited to reunite with Tillman, who he loved coaching two years ago.

“My time here in Boston, being with X, he brought a joy to the building every day,” Lee said. “He works extremely hard. He gets along with his teammates, and we needed that veteran presence, someone that’s ready for 5 seconds of play, 10 seconds of play. I’ve thrown him out there for a minute, one possession.”

Lee was excited to bring in Tillman, the person, first and foremost. And, over the past few months, he’s connected with other members of the Stay Ready Group — the players mostly out of the Hornets rotation who are tasked with

“He interacts and talks about his experiences, and builds relationships with our players really well,” Lee said. “So, I was looking forward to just getting a guy who I think can help be a good veteran in our locker room, and help our young players as we continue on throughout this season or journey.”

Tillman’s presence in Charlotte has already been felt

Former Celtic Grant Williams, one of several Hornet veterans, said Tillman brings a maturity beyond his years.

“He’s one of the best locker room presences you can have in the league,” Williams said. “I bet you everyone here in Boston would say the same.”

Reflecting on Tillman’s tenure, Mazzulla stressed that, in addition to being a culture-setter, Tillman was also someone he relied on on the floor. In November, after 9 DNPs, Tillman laced up for a season-high 30 minutes in a win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Mazzulla points to that game as a defining point in the season.

“When he did play, I thought he was impactful for us,” Mazzulla said. “He started at Cleveland on the second night of a back-to-back, and that’s kind of when we went on a run, and where I really thought we started to develop the identity that we’re trying to create and maintain now. And so, over the years, when he’s been on the floor for us, he’s been impactful.”

As Tillman looks back on his time in Boston, the 2024 championship run undoubtedly stands out.

But above that are the connections he formed off the floor.

“I just think [about] the relationships I was able to build being here,” Tillman said. “I think about guys like Jordan [Walsh], and think about guys like Payton [Pritchard] and Sam [Hauser] and Neemi[as] Queta, and then obviously, all the staff, like, those are guys who — we’re playing cards together. We’re actually building genuine bonds.”

Grant Williams said he’s already observed first-hand Tillman’s unique ability to build those relationships.

“He not only checks in on you as a human being and makes sure you’re good, he asks you personal questions,” Williams said. “He wants to know you deeply, not just as an acquaintance or as a co-worker, but also as a friend. And I think that his value stretches way further than just his time on the court.”

Over the past two years, one of the biggest beneficiaries of that support was Jordan Walsh.

“Me and X were like this,” Walsh said last month, crossing his fingers. “And so that first game back, I’m always looking for somebody to talk to, for inspo, points, or whatever it may be, and he just wasn’t there. And I was like, dang it just feels different. Everything feels different.“

On Wednesday, Tillman said he’s long rooted for Walsh’s success.

“I was one of his biggest fans, for sure, just watching him continue to develop in the games and continue to build his confidence day in and day out,” he said. “And then, even when things don’t go as well as he’d hope, [I’d] keep preaching confidence to him, because I see how good a player that he is, and that he just needs to let it shine. And so that was my biggest thing to him, is just always staying true to who he is and staying true to the work that he puts in — because he’s really good.”

Tillman, for what it’s worth, has found himself in a great landing spot. On top of the familiarity with Lee, Bucknor, and Mueller, the Hornets have been one of the NBA’s best teams of late.

Over the past two months, Charlotte has the best record in the entire league at 20-8. And, they’ve won 6 straight games by 15+ points, the longest such streak since the 2017-2018 Warriors.

In Wednesday’s match-up between the Celtics and the Hornets, he found himself on the winning side.

And, after the final buzzer, Tillman was swarmed by many of the same teammates with whom he won a championship.