Caitlin Clark Heaps Praise on Celtics Big Man

Getty

Coming out of college, Luka Garza was certainly a household name. Playing at such a high level during his Iowa days, it was clear right away that he was special. But as it goes in the NBA, sometimes players just have to wait for the right situation.

Garza, currently in the midst of his fifth NBA season and with his third team, is finally getting the chance he has long waited for. One of the league’s biggest breakout players this season, he has brought all the energy needed to win games off of the Boston Celtics bench.

And nobody is less surprised by his success than another fellow former Iowa Hawkeye legend Caitlin Clark. She took to social media to chime in on a post from Celtics beat writer Marc D’Amico mentioning Garza’s 50% three-point percentage.

Of course, she started at Iowa in 2020, whereas Garza left in 2021. There was an overlap, and she made sure to let everybody knew who was aware first.

Let’s dive more into the big man’s breakout campaign in Boston.

Luka Garza Delivering In Boston

When the Celtics lost Luke Kornet, Al Horford, and Kristaps Porzingis after last season, there were reinforcements needed. Losing all of these starting-caliber bigs, new names needed to be added to fill those voids. Among those, was Luka Garza, who had spent the previous three seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Playing behind Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid, there is plenty to absorb. Both are elite shooting bigs with excellent footwork, who can teach all there is to know about being a stretch big.

Garza has been known for his post-game workouts, and constantly being in the lab, working on his game. It was on display in Minnesota, and now people are starting to see what Caitlin Clark has long known. He’s still the player he was when he was dominating in college.

As a reserve with Boston, Garza is averaging career-highs in minutes (16.5 per game), points (7.5), and rebounds (4.3). He is making a career-best 61.4% of his shots, and 50% of his threes. This is a stretch five in its truest form.

Boston has him playing behind Neemias Queta, injecting energy into the second unit on a nightly basis. There isn’t much he hasn’t been able to do for the team, bringing all heart, all the time.

It certainly helps that his teammate, fellow energizer bunny Josh Minott came over with him from Minnesota. These two are a major reason why Boston is sitting at #3 in the Eastern Conference.

The Best Is Yet to Come for Luka Garza

Watching the Celtics this year, it’s very clearly a different team from the past few seasons. All of the player turnover has led a number of guys jumping in and having to learn on the fly. But, it’s all worked.

The expectations with Jayson Tatum out this year were for Boston to just tread water and perhaps make a light playoff run. As it stands now, with them at #3 in the East, they are absolutely overachieving.

Luka Garza has played a huge part of this, his willingness to get down and dirty and make winning plays going a long way. Joe Mazzulla has demonstrated full trust in him, something he didn’t have in his past couple of stops.

Look for this team to continue to play at a high level. Garza has logged 20 or more minutes in five of the last six games, too valuable to take out of the game.

Caitlin Clark knew. Now everybody’s starting to know. He’s a problem.

Zach Weiss Zach Weiss is a sports reporter covering the NBA for Heavy. He also hosts a podcast about the Cleveland Cavaliers, “Across the Cavs,” and serves as a sports broadcaster for various institutions in the Greater NYC Area. He wrote for Knup Sports for six years. More about Zach Weiss