Hason Ward: The electrifying local product every Celtics fan should know

Most New Englanders with an affinity for basketball have their eyes locked in on green right now. The Boston Celtics just won the 2024 NBA Championship and have jumped out to an even better start to the 2024-25 season. Payton Pritchard’s electric emergence and the return of Kristaps Porzingis have captured the attention of the entire fanbase.

Celtics fans are right to stay keyed in on Boston. But the most loyal fans should lift their gaze just over 100 miles north. The Maine Celtics have a new head coach, the same stars as last year, and perhaps most intriguingly, a local product to keep tabs on—Hason Ward.

Because Ward is exactly the type of player Boston fans should love to root for.

Every Celtics fan should pay attention to Hason Ward

Ward was born in St. Thomas, Barbados, but moved to Massachusetts for high school. He attended Springfield Central, and though he isn’t a New Englander by birth, he certainly adopted the basketball culture.

“When I first got here, I didn't have [any] favorite teams for real, but I always had favorite players,” Ward told Hardwood Houdini. “But definitely, when I first moved to Springfield, Massachusetts, and I started playing basketball on a real team structure, and I knew I had the potential to make it somewhere far, the Boston Celtics [were] definitely my [home team]. Like, I want to be on that team. That's the perfect fit.”

And unfortunately for him, he also adopted the weather.

“Barbados is definitely hot, bro, but the cold, when I first got here, it was definitely an eye-opener,” Ward said with a chuckle. “But now I feel like I got a good concept to it. Been to Massachusetts to Iowa to Portland.”

Following his high school stint in Western Mass, the 24-year-old big man spent five years in college after—three at VCU and two at Iowa State.

His 2023-24 Cyclones season marked his final in college, and he signed an Exhibit 10 with Boston the following summer, clearing a path for him to land in Maine.

“It's just a winning team,” Ward told Hardwood Houdini when asked about signing with the Celtics. “A team about all the right stuff. And the cherry on top was that was in the backyard.”

Ward played well for Iowa State, but he was never a big-minutes guy. His career high in college at 21.5 minutes per game came at VCU in his sophomore season. He played just 15.8 per game in his fifth year.

Yet when he decided to go pro, the Celtics were intrigued. His 6.0 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game the season prior were outmatched by his on-court impact, and it landed him an opportunity in Boston.

“I was able to get a workout. Training camp and stuff like that,” Ward said. “I was able to go there and showcase what I could do as a basketball player.”

Since getting to Maine, Ward has been the Celtics’ second big in the rotation behind Dmytro Skapnitsev, the team’s every-night starter. Those two, alongside Anton Watson, who splits time between the four and five, have managed almost all of the center minutes.

“Just working on different little things to where I can affect the game more than what I was doing, or even at a higher level,” Ward said of his time in Maine. “And I just feel like this is a good group of guys that everybody gets it. Everybody understands their responsibility. And I don't think there's no ego. 

“Everybody's here to help each other. Everybody's cool with each other. I think that's something good to have on the team, because then it just brings us together, and we have more chemistry for real.”

Skapintsev is a bruiser. Maine’s massive presence inside, setting huge screens and battling in the post. Watson gives them more switchability. Boston’s rookie on a two-way contract spreads the floor and takes on a variety of defensive matchups.

So, what is Ward? The answer to that question is exactly why the biggest Celtics fans should be paying attention. Because Ward is the closest player to Robert Williams III the organization currently employs.

Hason Ward is the closest thing to Robert Williams

During Williams’ stint with the Celtics, fans quickly became obsessed with his highlight-reel plays. It seemed like Williams would produce a new clip for social media every night.

To a degree, Neemias Queta fills that void in Boston. But he’s bigger and doesn’t have the same hops as the peak version of Williams displayed. 

Ward is a far cry from Williams, who was an All-Defensive player during the Celtics’ 2022 NBA Finals run. He still needs to work on timing, switching, and all the intangibles that come with being an athletic center at the highest level. But the flashes are there.

“He puts a lot of amazing stuff on film,” said Maine head coach Tyler Lashbrook. “Not just today, but if you go back and watch all of his minutes, he does some pretty cool stuff. I just like how hard he plays, and how willing he is to do all the little things and just sort of bring energy at all times. And he knows that that's what he does, and he does it really well.”

From wild offensive rebounds to monstrous alley-oop slams, Ward is constantly soaring through the sky in an attempt to give Maine every extra advantage he can possibly create.

“It's a lot of fun to play with a guy like that, and it's a lot of fun to know that, defensively, you can kind of be super aggressive, knowing that you got him back there,” said Celtics rookie Baylor Scheierman, who has spent a large chunk of the season in Maine.

“Super athletic ability to block shots and impact plays at the rim. And then offensively, his ability to fly in and crash the glass and catch lobs.”

Ward’s vertical spacing isn’t new, though. It’s a perfect change of pace for Maine, but out in Ames, Iowa, it was a way of life.

The 6-foot-9 big man constantly has a thousand different responsibilities swirling through his head. From rotations to spacing to screening. But above all, he wants to dunk.

“In my head, I’m just, ‘Dunk everything,’ for real,” Ward told Christian Royston of Iowa State Daily earlier this year.

Through seven games of the G League Showcase opener, Ward has been doing his best to live up to that standard.

“Oh yeah, that's always a goal, for sure,” Ward said with a smile. “Anything that I can dunk, I'm gonna dunk it, for sure. But yeah, that goal is definitely still on the top of my list. And just to take advantage of every opportunity I have and play hard, man.”

And for as much focus Ward is putting into that goal, Lashbrook is even more fond of the idea.

“I would love that,” said the head coach. “That's the best shot in basketball. Everyone thinks that threes are the best shot. A dunk is the best shot in basketball.”

Obviously, Ward is focusing on developing his overall game in Maine. He wants to be the best version of himself in every aspect of the sport. But while his ‘dunk everything’ mentality may sound like more of a funny turn of phrase, Lashbrook views it as a legitimate starting point.

“I kind of like letting him dunk everything if he can,” Lashbrook said. “And then obviously working his touch and growing him outside. But I think that's actually a pretty good starting point for him to understand [that] this is the way to stand out. But, yeah, he can definitely grow in other ways and is willing to put it in the work.”

When Williams first stepped into the league, he was a raw, tantalizing prospect who could rip off an unimaginable dunk or vicious block at the drop of a hat. The talent was there, but it needed to be reined in.

Ward is even more raw, and at 24 years old, the pathway to development, especially within the organization, will be tougher. But that same excitement is there. It rushes through him every time he steps foot on the court, and the Expo Center holds its breath in anticipation every time his feet leave the ground.

So, as Celtics fans continue to flood TD Garden hoping to catch a glimpse of the stars that brought home Banner 18, they shouldn’t discount a quick two-hour drive up to Portland.

The thrill of JD Davison’s record-setting season or a peek at Boston’s rookies, Scheierman and Watson, are interesting enough, but the Barbados-born, Massachusetts-raised Ward should take that interest over the hump.

A basketball-oriented move turned him into a Celtics fan, and the same Bostonians who were obsessed with Williams’ freak athleticism will find that same euphoria watching Ward play basketball.

And there’s nothing he wants more than to translate that into Celtics wins.

“They took an opportunity with me, and I'm forever grateful to be in this position,” Ward said. “Just trying to take advantage of every opportunity and just play as hard as I can to help my team win and just produce that way.”