Payton Pritchard is truly unique among NBA players.
The latest example of that for the Boston Celtics guard comes from a statistical leaderboard that has him keeping company with the NBA's four best players: Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic.
The stat: field goal percentage on unassisted shots in the paint.
It's a stat you'd generally expect big guys and other superstars to be best at.
Pritchard ranks No. 5 in the NBA.
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Giannis is first, at 70%.
Jokic is at 65%. Doncic and SGA are both 64%, fractionally ahead of Pritchard.
Pritchard has a 64.2% rate on such shots.
Top-5 highest FG% on unassisted shots in the paint:
— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) January 2, 2026
Giannis 70%
Jokic 65%
Luka 64%
Shai 64%
and...
Payton Pritchard!
*among the 72 players with at least as many attempts as he has (which is 123) pic.twitter.com/DV26SfVPSL
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It's quite astounding. Pritchard is just 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds.
But he's known for his paint contributions. He averages more than one offensive rebound per game in the past two seasons, too.
Somehow, Pritchard is incredibly effective near the basket despite his size. It's a pretty cool thing to see.
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