Celtics

Forever a Boston sports fan, David Ortiz was thrilled to see Al Horford, Celtics win Banner 18

"I gotta tell you, man, I’m a Celtic. I cheer. I scream. I cry."

By Conor Ryan

August 28, 2024

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David Ortiz might have officially hung up his spikes after the 2016 season, but the Red Sox legend is still a dedicated Boston sports fan through and through.

As such, the Baseball Hall of Famer was happy to see the Celtics finally get over the hump and win its sought-after 18th championship in June. 

Ortiz has regularly been a fixture near the parquet floor during Celtics games over the years, but he also has close ties with C’s veteran Al Horford — with the two Dominican stars forging a friendship that goes back before Horford even first donned Celtic green for the first time in 2016. 

And to see his longtime friend finally win his first NBA title in his 17th season made Boston’s latest championship even more special to Ortiz. 

“I gotta tell you, man, I’m a Celtic,” Ortiz said Wednesday at the opening of the new Raising Cane’s location in Downtown Crossing. “I cheer. I scream. I cry. That’s my thing, man. When I see the Celtics win, when I see my hometown homie getting it done, I feel like I got it done.”

Ortiz was on site at TD Garden for Boston’s dramatic Game 1 win over the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals in Maye — which featured Jaylen Brown’s clutch 3-pointer at the buzzer that forced overtime. 

He watched from afar as the Celtics bested the Mavericks in five games during the NBA Finals, noting that the frustration from Boston’s loss in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat paid dividends the following spring for a battle-tested roster. 

“Last year during the playoffs, I saw what happened this year coming,” Ortiz said. “I saw it. I mean, I saw the guys more experienced, you know, Tatum with more experience, all of them. I mean, it was an absolutely great moment.”

While the Celtics might be the top team in Boston these days, Ortiz feels as though the passion and pressure that resonates in this market gets the most out of every team playing in the region — making the Celtics’ breakthrough this season even more meaningful after a 16-year title drought. 

“These guys, and any sport here in New England — if you go to the Celtics, you go to the Patriots, you go to the Red Sox, you go to the Bruins, any sport, even when you go to a college sport, you can see how every single athlete is just trying their best, because they know who they play for,” Ortiz said. “This is one of the greatest towns when it comes down to sports. 

“Like I’ve played in every city. And there’s three cities that you can sit down and be like, ‘Wow, you can feel it.’ When you guys go to L.A., you can feel that. When you go to New York, you can feel that. When you play here, you can feel that all the time. Very happy for the Celtics. Very happy for my boy. Those playoffs were amazing.” 

Ortiz, who appeared alongside Celtics guard Jrue Holiday as part of the festivities at Raising Cane’s, was asked of his prediction for the NBA MVP and NBA Finals champion in 2024-25.

His response was not surprising.

“For next season, of course the Celtics are going to repeat without a doubt,” Ortiz said. “Gotta go for my boy (Holiday) right here.”

“I appreciate it, but no chance,” Holiday said with a smile about Ortiz’s MVP endorsement.