Boston Celtics rookie savoring trial-by-fire start to NBA career

Hugo Gonzalez’s defensive assignments to start his Celtics career have featured a who’s who of the East’s All-Star guards. Last week it was the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, followed by the Pistons’ Cade Cunningham. Then, for his new test, Gonzalez matched up against the 76ers’ Tyrese Maxey for Friday’s game in Philadelphia.

It’s unusual to see a 19-year-old rookie getting a trial-by-fire experience to start his NBA career like Gonzalez has gotten. But that’s no surprise since that was the expectation put on him in Real Madrid’s developmental system. Once again, Gonzalez had his fingerprints on the 109-108 Celtics win Friday, savoring these consistent challenges thrown his way.

“I’m enjoying my role,” Gonzalez told reporters, via CLNS Media. “Type of things that this coaching staff is asking me to do. I’m pretty happy with anything they’ve got for me because they’re looking for team success and looking for my own development. So anything they got me, I’ll take it.”

Gonzalez finished with five points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals in 15 minutes Friday. His energy was infectious, whether it was jamming a speedy-break dunk or diving all-out for a loose ball. His contest on a Quentin Grimes dunk, leading to a hard fall, also turned heads since he popped right back up.

While the energy was great, he wasn’t perfect as he also picked up five personal fouls. He’ll have to clean that part of his game to play extended minutes in future games. Fortunately, Gonzalez also anthem a 3-pointer Friday, and his jump shot is a skill he’ll have to add to his game consistently.

“When you’re a young player, a basic thing they’re going to ask you 99% of the time is you have to be able to defend,” Gonzalez said. “And whenever you’re open, can you shoot with confidence or whatever. So if I want to get minutes on this team, I have to defend.”

Gonzalez has held up when tasked with tough defensive assignments. His feel has been on display, including when he jumps a passing lane or grabs a steal. That energy, too, fits this current version of the Celtics perfectly. When it comes to generating chaos defensively, Gonzalez has been more than willing to step up.

C’s coach Joe Mazzulla has tinkered with his wing rotations to start the season, but Gonzalez has mostly made the most of his minutes. Part of it, too, is that Gonzalez is still just six games into his NBA career. He’s already proven he can contribute in a few areas at an NBA level, and he still has time to round out his game overall.

“It would be selfish if you think that you’re going to play, especially in my case, that I’m going to play 35 minutes every single night,“ Gonzalez said. ”That wouldn’t be the case right today. But you can be able to do whatever they ask you. If they ask you to guard the best player, you gotta do it for the team. Basically it.”