Game of Thrones, Booray, and heart-to-hearts: Inside the Celtics’ plane ride routines

DALLAS — The Boston Celtics have done some binge-watching this season.

“A lot of guys have watched Game of Thrones,” Sam Hauser said at media availability on Tuesday. “I’m not one of those guys who has watched it, but I know a lot of us have also watched Yellowstone. I’m a big Yellowstone fan.

“So, those are two heavy talking points, I’d say. So, we can’t wait for the second part of this last season to come out for Yellowstone, I know that.”

Up 2-0 in the NBA Finals, the Celtics have now played 98 games this season. Of those, 47 have been on the road. That leaves them with a lot of time up in the air, much of which has been spent catching up on TV.

“Right now, I’m rewatching House of the Dragon to get ready for next week,” said Drew Peterson, who is preparing for Season 2 to drop.

Meanwhile, Payton Pritchard leans more to the side of Hauser.

“I just rewatched Yellowstone with my fiance and my brother for like the third time, so, I went through and watched that also,” he said. “I love that show.”

But the rewatching has been matched by some guys getting their first experience.

“Al [Horford] is in the middle of watching Game of Thrones right now,” Pritchard revealed. And things have started getting juicy. “He just got to the part where Jon Snow died.”

Plane journeys take on different forms for everyone on the team. TV shows are a consistent theme throughout, but groups also break out into different activities.

Some end up chatting, some take naps, and others play cards.

Oshae Brissett’s vlogs have documented the team’s liking for a game of high card, but another one that has taken over a particular portion of the team is Booray.

Pritchard, Jaden Springer, Xavier Tillman, Neemias Queta, and Svi Mykhailiuk are in said group, but there are some differing opinions on who is the best. Or, more specifically, whether or not someone can actually claim that title.

“No, no, no, there’s no, ‘Who’s the best?’ Tillman argued. “It is luck. There’s no, ‘Who’s the best?’”

He did have some thoughts on who the luckiest members of the group are, though. “Jaden,” Tillman said. “Him and P. Him and Payton, for sure.”

That said, Springer pushed back on Tillman’s theory.

“I don’t think it’s the luckiest,” he said. “I think I’m the best.”

He even called out his teammate, urging him to back up his claims.

“It’s all luck, bro?” Springer asked Tillman, who was sitting further down the bench.

“100 percent,” Tillman responded.

“Nah, it’s skill,” Springer said. “You got to have some skill.”

But just as Springer disputed Tillman’s thoughts on their games of Booray, Pritchard also chimed in, placing himself at the top of the power rankings.

“I would probably say I’m the best because I’m the most consistent with my winnings,” Pritchard said. “How I play. Certain guys take chances. Certain guys are bad gamblers in my opinion.”

He also refused to point in the direction of the so-called “bad gamblers.”

“Nah, I’m not throwing names,” Pritchard said with a smile. “But I know that I’m sitting pretty good right now.”

But Springer hinted at it.

“Everybody has their days,” Springer said when asked who is the worst at Booray. “But actually, X [Tillman] might be, he might be up there. I don’t know.”

As that group throws down some money on Booray, others make sure to stay out of the action. “They told me, ‘Don’t learn,’” Peterson said jokingly.

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

Another popular plane-ride activity is debating. Hauser noted that a recent example involved NFL quarterbacks, as the guys went back and forth trying to name their top fives.

A Wisconsin native, Hauser makes sure to push for Aaron Rogers and Brett Favre as much as he can. “I throw my two cents in every time we talk,” he said. “[Those are] my guys.”

However, his bias couldn’t get in the way of his actual top-five list.

“Hate to say it, but Tom Brady,” Hauser said, placing the New England Patriots legend at number one. “Peyton Manning, Aaron Rogers. [Patrick] Mahomes. Brett Favre.”

Tillman noted that Hauser and Derrick White are commonly the ones getting in on the sports debates, and Luke Kornet added that Jayson Tatum throws his opinions in the mix, too.

“Jayson is pretty engaged in the sports ranking conversations,” said Kornet. “He’s definitely very active in that.”

As for Kornet, he also joins the talks, but he has different motives in mind.

“I usually just try to chirp in with really awful suggestions,” he said. “Like the top five quarterbacks [debate], I pushed with Jay Cutler really hard as a Vandy guy. And then I also just know that going at anything [about] Rogers gets under Sam’s skin. And then Derrick is just an absolute Denver homer.

“So, really, it’s just kind of undermining all their points. That’s kind of my input. I also like, don’t have very strong opinions on other sports, but I know just enough to just kind of try to make people laugh and let the other people who actually know stuff do the talking.”

Photo by Ryan Stetz/NBAE via Getty Images

Kornet’s plane routine is a bit unique from everyone else’s. He and Jrue Holiday sit in the back of the plane, sharing heart-to-hearts from time to time.

“Me and Jrue are in the very back row,” Kornet said. “And it basically alternates between, well, one, if I got caught in like YouTube videos — that’s a problem. So, that happens too frequently. I’ll read a little bit. Heart-to-hearts with Jrue. I pray the rosary sometimes, so that’ll be part of it. And I try to like sleep, but I can’t really sleep.”

The big man’s YouTube rabbit holes span wildly different genres of content. “Long-form interviews. Some mixture of basically basketball, Catholic apologetics, and like, some like comedy type stuff is kind of the, like, trifecta of my YouTube algorithm at the moment,” he said.

He mentioned Sebastian Maniscalco and Demetri Martin-type bits as some of his favorite comedy stuff, but a Boston-based comedian tops his personal list.

“Gary Gulman,” Kornet said. “One of my favorites. He’s fantastic. He might be my number one.”

From Yellowstone to Booray to some Gary Culman comedy routines, the Celtics have made the most of their plane rides. Cookies and Cream get along well, too, “Him [Jaylen Brown] and KP [Kristaps Porzingis] have a nice little combo kind of going,” said Kornet.

Everyone does their own thing, even if it’s not the most exciting task.

“Some people are probably answering emails or something,” Tillman said. “I would think Al.”

“The type of guy to answer emails,” Brissett said as the two laughed.

Boston’s plane rides have taken on a consistent brand of inconsistency. Every trip looks different from the perspective of who’s doing what, but the one constant is the vibes.

The same chemistry that has earned them a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals translates perfectly off the court (and in the air).

“I think that’s the beauty of our team,” said Hauser. “We’re friends off the court as well as on the court. Not every team around is like that. And I think everybody gets along with each other. Each guy individually has different personalities, but it all kind of works.”