While Boston Celtics two way center Tacko Fall knows a lot of the attention he gets as a player is due to him being 7-foot-5, with the work he’s put in this year, he also wants his play on the court to speak for itself.
For much of his collegiate career, the Senegalese center leaned on that height to score near-basket and rebound with ease. At that level, there weren’t many players who could stop him, so Fall spent a lot of his training just packing on muscle to his then-wire-thin frame.
But when he got to the next level in the NBA, he found his usual bag of tricks had a limited utility in the modern NBA, and has been working with the coaching staff of the Boston Celtics and Maine Red Claws — Boston’s developmental affiliate in the G League — ever since.
“I am better, a lot better [than I was at UCF],” said Tacko via the North Andover Eagle-Tribune’s Bill Burt.
“The coaching I’ve received has been great. They are really pushing me — Coach [Brad] Stevens in Boston and our coaches up here. It’s a lot of work. Every day I’m trying to get better. I want to play in Boston. I want to help them.”
And while it’ll be some time still before Fall is starting or even playing regularly in NBA games with the Celtics, he’s already shown he’s added a host of new moves to his game, gradually extending his range away from the basket while working on his mobility and defense.
And it’s paying off big for the Red Claws.
For most of the last two months, the Conakry native has logged a double-double with such frequency it’s ceased to be remarkable beyond the fact they keep rolling in.
And the former Knight has learned some skills to beat the double- and triple-teams some defenses at the G League level have been deploying to slow him down, too.
A lot of the growth we are seeing with Fall is credited to his friend and teammate Enes Kanter, who the big man refers to as a brother.
Tacko Fall entered the ring to box Celtics teammate Enes Kanter https://t.co/NErQ2piHGZ
— RookieWire (@RookieWire) March 2, 2020
Their friendship was sparked by their shared belief in Islam, but has only grown stronger with time. “He’s been incredible to me. I love Enes,” offered Fall.
“As a player, he’s pushed me a lot, too … I don’t get to see him much lately, but when I do go to Boston to practice, we are together a lot. We do muscle work together. He’s a strong guy,” he added.
While Fall doesn’t get to spend too much time at the Celtics’ practice facilities due to his assignment to the Red Claws, he is deeply thankful and appreciative of his opportunity with Boston, which he plans to make the most of.
Perhaps as awed and respectful of anyone on the team of the heritage of the club he now plays for, he believes providence has guided him to his current situation, and wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Obviously, they were the franchise that gave me a chance,” said Fall. “But I would say just wearing that [Celtics] jersey, I mean, it has so much, so much history. I feel like God has put me in this position, to honor, to carry on that legacy.”
Celtics fans and Tacko Maniacs (there is a big overlap, but the two groups are not as isomorphic as one might assume) are more than excited to see him get that chance at the NBA level.
And while it might not come this season, with an attitude like Fall’s and the fanbase which adores him, it seems almost a foregone conclusion it will come soon with the work ethic the Senegalese big man displays habitually.
“The fans of Boston have been incredible,” said Fall. “I want to be part of that journey in getting the Celtics another championship.”
“If it’s five minutes a game, fine. Then I will try to make seven minutes and then more.”
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