Vincent Poirier is ready to go for Boston, but how he was introduced to the NBA years ago may surprise you

In a very good article written by Chris Forsberg for NBCSports Boston, some of the Celtics' newest big man Vicent Poirier's background history is covered as well as how he plans to make his name known in the NBA.
7' tall center Vincent Poirier only got to play 6 minutes in the Celtics' preseason opener against the Charlotte Hornets in Boston. Photo via Michael Dwyer 
Coming off a bronze medal in the FIBA World cup this summer for France, Poirier explained to Forsberg some of how he came to be in the NBA as well as how he plans to take his place in the league moving forward.

Growing up as a soccer player, Poirier switched to basketball after hitting a major growth spurt as a teenager, which pushed him towards engaging in the sport in every aspect he could, including virtual. According to the 7' Frenchman, his introduction to the Celtics and a more detailed NBA overall was through NBA 2K, who's "main game" as he put it was the "Lakers VS. Boston."

Since Poirier is 25 years old, it would make sense that the game he is referring to would be NBA 2k9, which had Kevin Garnett on the cover as a Celtic, and the Lakers and Boston as the opening menu match up after their 2008 NBA finals duel.


After this, Poirier went on to tell Forsberg about how impressed he was with the various bigs on the Celtics who were all competing for valuable minutes that are certainly up for grabs. In response, Forsberg asked how Poirier plans to separate his play from that of his teammates, to which he had this to say:
"Doing what I did last year: Be active on both sides of the court, make the good decision, good screens. Make the guys shine. I think that, when the team is shining, you have to find somebody to say 'Ok, it's all about doing the dirty jobs.' I would like to be that guy."

Judging by this, Poirier appears to be an extremely unselfish player, and in Boston, those players usually thrive. When Poirier says "last year," he is referring to his play in the EuroLeague where he certainly made his tough and gritty, team-first big man role known on a nightly basis. There, he averaged just under 12 points per game (11.9) as well as 8.3 rebounds, an assist and shot a respectable 62% from the field. 

Just going off of his EuroLeague highlights, Poirier's game reminds me of a slightly more athletic version of former Celtics' center Aron Baynes, who I think very much served the role he was brought to Boston to fulfill.



If he can manage to carry over this type of play from Europe to the NBA, I don't think Poirier will have any problem finding a role both within the Celtics rotation as well as in the NBA as a solid role player in the years to come.

As the Celtics' center situation continues to work itself out and we get a better idea of who is taking minutes on the official roster we will get know where Poirier falls inline. With Kanter, Williams, and Theis likely locks for the rotation at the moment, it will be very interesting to see how things shake out and when Poirier will see the floor.

But what do you think? What is Poirier's ceiling with the Celtics? Where do you think he should fall in the rotation? Let me know in the comments section down below.

You can follow Thomas Desmond on Twitter @td_654.