Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka talked up veteran guard Josh Richardson’s impact this season at his shootaround press conference Friday. Richardson has been a bench player this season in Boston, not a role he’d previously been accustomed to since breaking into the league his rookie year with the Miami Heat in 2015-16.
Richardson had come off the bench just five times in his previous four seasons before coming to Boston. This season, he has yet to start in one of his 37 games played while guards Dennis Schroder and Marcus Smart have shared a bulk of the starting minutes. Despite this change, Udoka said Richardson has been embracing this role and has been an important veteran voice in the process.