So in the process of introducing Rozier along with fellow draftees R.J. Hunter, Jordan Mickey and Marcus Thornton, Ainge stuck to what feels like an emerging theme this summer: character.
Ainge brought up the fact that Rozier has triumphed despite a difficult life, mentioning that his father, Terry Sr., is in an Ohio prison. The elder Rozier is serving a 13-year sentence for his role in a robbery and kidnapping.
“It’s an amazing story that Terry has made it to this point, being a draft pick with his father in prison,” he said. “He’s had to make a lot of choices, with the threat of violence in a tough neighborhood. It’s been a tough road for his grandmother and Terry. Sometimes you aren’t blessed with a great starting point in life, and you can make one or two bad decisions and fail. But it took hundreds of great decisions to get to where he is today. There’s a real fond place in my heart for Terry.”
Ainge believes the Celtics caught Rozier at the right time, as he was starting to perform better with each draft workout, including two for the Celtics. Rozier drew raves for his performance during the NBA’s draft combine in Chicago.
“We liked Terry from the very beginning,” Ainge said. “I was getting a little nervous that he was moving up too high in the draft. If another week had gone by he would have been rated much higher. He was 20 in the last two or three weeks of the process. There was a time we thought maybe we could get him at 28, but it was clear on draft day that wouldn’t happen.”
“He’s a guy we have known about, and we thought he was very underrated based on the media and how they perceived him,” Ainge said. “Terry improved rapidly because of the quality of player he is the last few weeks of the draft process. He was getting attention around the league, which worried us because we thought we had a diamond in the rough. Nobody was valuing him all that much.
Ainge brought up the fact that Rozier has triumphed despite a difficult life, mentioning that his father, Terry Sr., is in an Ohio prison. The elder Rozier is serving a 13-year sentence for his role in a robbery and kidnapping.
“It’s an amazing story that Terry has made it to this point, being a draft pick with his father in prison,” he said. “He’s had to make a lot of choices, with the threat of violence in a tough neighborhood. It’s been a tough road for his grandmother and Terry. Sometimes you aren’t blessed with a great starting point in life, and you can make one or two bad decisions and fail. But it took hundreds of great decisions to get to where he is today. There’s a real fond place in my heart for Terry.”
Ainge believes the Celtics caught Rozier at the right time, as he was starting to perform better with each draft workout, including two for the Celtics. Rozier drew raves for his performance during the NBA’s draft combine in Chicago.
“We liked Terry from the very beginning,” Ainge said. “I was getting a little nervous that he was moving up too high in the draft. If another week had gone by he would have been rated much higher. He was 20 in the last two or three weeks of the process. There was a time we thought maybe we could get him at 28, but it was clear on draft day that wouldn’t happen.”
“He’s a guy we have known about, and we thought he was very underrated based on the media and how they perceived him,” Ainge said. “Terry improved rapidly because of the quality of player he is the last few weeks of the draft process. He was getting attention around the league, which worried us because we thought we had a diamond in the rough. Nobody was valuing him all that much.
