Hallie Grossman Oct 26, 2026, 07:55 AM ET

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Staff Writer for ESPN.com and ESPN The Magazine

Joined ESPN The Magazine after graduating from Penn State University.

Covers college football and college basketball.

PAYTON PRITCHARD IS at the Celtics bench when he feels a tap on his shoulder.

It's late April, and time is running out in Game 3 of the first round of the playoffs. Boston has padded its lead to 103-98 with just over a minute to go, and a win on the road in Philadelphia is in sight. That's what the Celtics usually do, after all: beat the Sixers in the playoffs, every time they've met in the postseason in the past 44 years. Pritchard has rained 3s tonight, five in all, to help with their latest effort, so who knows what kind of Philly-cooked hospitality awaits Pritchard right now.

He turns to find a man even shorter than he is -- a rarity for Pritchard on NBA courts -- who is swathed in all black. Black leather jacket, black T-shirt, black baseball cap.…