PHOENIX — Baylor Scheierman blows kisses to the crowd. He goes back and forth with fans after making jump shots. To an outsider, the antics might not seem important to his success, but he believes he needs them to play his best.
“I’m a competitor,” Scheierman said at shootaround Wednesday morning, hours before the Boston Celtics downed the Phoenix Suns 132-102. “I like to have fun on the court, but also I like to play with a little bit of flair. And I think for me, I need that in my game. In order for me to be and go where I want to go, I kind of (need to) have that edge to me. And when I’m out on the court playing, I’m going to let you know about things.”
Not many rookies carry themselves with such bravado. The attitude is especially jarring for a rookie in Scheierman’s situation. He looked unsure of himself throughout the preseason while kicking away whatever chance he had to make an immediate impact. He didn’t play in the NBA for most of the season. Only recently did he start receiving consistent opportunities to see the court. And now he’s celebrating after key buckets? Pulling up from well beyond the arc on fast breaks? Chirping at opposing fans after draining 3-pointers?
To Scheierman, the gestures to the crowd are signs he is playing like himself. That he’s doing so now, while turning around what once looked like a lost rookie season, stands as a testament to his resilience and self-belief. As much as he struggled earlier in the season, he said he continued to trust in his work and hold onto the confidence he would be ready when his turn arrived.
“I knew that when my opportunity came where I could get some extended minutes, I felt like I was going to be able to take advantage of that,” Scheierman said. “And I feel like that’s obviously what’s happened.”
Scheierman received rotation minutes for the sixth straight game on Wednesday. Though he didn’t produce as much as he did in some recent outings, with three points and four assists over 13 minutes, his mere presence on the court in non-garbage time showed how far he has come. This month, he has earned the coaching staff’s trust while climbing over more experienced players on the Celtics depth chart.
“His ability to just kind of bring it on both ends of the floor,” said Joe Mazzulla. “I think he brings a different level of energy when he’s been out there. And he’s made momentum plays, whether it’s deflections, whether it’s steals, whether it’s the steal-to-the-pass that he had the other night. So he just plays with a chip on his shoulder. And I think there’s certain guys that can bring the game to another level from an energy standpoint, and I think he’s become one of those guys for us.”
Yeah Rook 🤯 pic.twitter.com/oYQr2e3wFt
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 27, 2025
Even at the start of March, such a role for Scheierman would have seemed farfetched. But he scored 15 points against the Philadelphia 76ers when the Celtics were down three starters on March 6. Since then, he has regularly taken advantage of opportunities while emerging as Mazzulla’s favorite end-of-the-bench wing option. Scheierman knocked down seven 3-pointers while scoring a career-high 20 points against the Brooklyn Nets on March 18, and his impact has extended beyond his outside shooting. He has moved the ball well. He has worked to take charges.
Scheierman has shown the promise that convinced the Celtics to use a first-round pick on him. Even if he is still unlikely to crack the playoff rotation, he is building momentum that could carry over into the offseason and beyond. It’s already clear that a tough start to the season didn’t break him.
Scheierman understood he would have a difficult time earning consistent minutes early. The Celtics returned every key player from a championship team. They had no room for any new addition, especially a young player still learning how to operate in the NBA. Still, the way he started his career could have damaged his psyche. He looked out of place throughout the preseason. During the rare opportunities he did get during the regular season, he made just one of his first 15 3-point attempts. As easy as it would have been to dwell on the misses, he said they didn’t convince him to question his outside shot.
“I knew that it wasn’t necessarily reflective of how I am as a shooter,” Scheierman said. “And so really just the mental confidence that I have in myself of knowing that I am a good shooter and I put in the time, I put in the work and just the more opportunities that come my way, the better I’ll be at it.”
Scheierman didn’t need to look hard for examples of similar journeys. Luke Kornet didn’t find a stable NBA home for years. Sam Hauser only appeared in 26 games as a rookie while on a two-way contract. Payton Pritchard played more as a rookie, but dealt with up-and-down roles over the next several seasons after that. The veteran Celtics stressed to Scheierman the importance of remaining committed to the process of improvement even when the benefits didn’t immediately arrive.
“Really, every young player for the most part goes through it,” Pritchard said. “Going to the pros, it’s not going to be just an easy transition. It’s not going to be just a linear success rate. So it’s just about staying with your work.”
The advice helped Scheierman handle his early challenges.
“It’s hard,” Scheierman said, “because you want to play, but at the same time you have to have that perspective at the end of the day. Payton’s told me, and a lot of people have told me, it’s the people that can handle that and get through it that end up making it and that the people that can’t obviously don’t end up making it. So I think kind of having that perspective and just knowing that kind of really helps you just kind of battle through it and just be prepared whenever your number’s called.”
When Scheierman spent significant time with the Celtics’ G League affiliate in Maine, Pritchard told him to “be where your feet are.” Pritchard’s messages about how to deal with the emotions of professional ups and downs helped Scheierman stay focused on what he could control.
“He played a lot his first year and then didn’t play a lot the next few years, so he’s kind of been through that mental battle,” Scheierman said. “And so he knows how it is and how it can weigh on someone and especially a competitor. And so I think hearing that from him really helped me put it into perspective that … I’m not the first person to be going through these things. There’s a lot of people that have gone through what I’ve gone through. And so just knowing that and having them there, it’s helped a lot.”
Scheierman could also lean on his personal experience. After starring at South Dakota State, he transferred to Creighton before his fourth college season. Though he averaged 12.3 points and 8.3 rebounds per game during his first season at Creighton, he still needed time to find his stride at the Big East level. In his second year at Creighton, he earned third-team All-America honors.
“I think anytime you face adversity, it helps you for the next time you do it,” he said. “And obviously coming to Creighton, I didn’t necessarily have a bad year my first year, but it definitely was an adjustment and something that was a struggle mentally to go through that whole year. But I think it was a good thing for me just to go through that and know how that felt. So that, going through it now at this level, it was kind of just like, ‘I’ve been through this before. I know what to expect. I can get to the other side of it.’”
Scheierman’s increased comfort level these days is easy to spot. Though he was quiet over four first-half minutes in Phoenix, he pulled out some tricks late in the fourth quarter of a blowout win. Scheierman found Pritchard with a pretty assist, pulled out the type of fake Rajon Rondo made popular in Boston and even drew an offensive foul with the Celtics ahead by 32 points in the final minutes.
“I feel like he’s been way more confident lately,” said Pritchard. “Once he started seeing a couple go in and playing and you can see the other things he’s able to do. His passing. His energy. He talks a little s—. So it is good to see though. He’s coming into his own.”
(Photo: Cary Edmondson / Imagn Images)
