Michigan State’s Xavier Tillman Sr. on winning the NBA championship

Last week, former Michigan State University basketball forward Xavier Tillman Sr. joined select company by becoming only the ninth Spartan to win an NBA title when he led the Boston Celtics to defeat the Dallas Mavericks for the franchise’s 18th title, leading the league.

Tillman, who just completed his fourth season in the NBA, has already experienced a lot of team success since being drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies in the second round of the 2020 NBA Draft and has made the postseason in every year he has been in the league.

It didn’t take long before he was finally able to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

Tillman witnessed his team’s championship parade in the historic city of Boston last week.

“This is like one of the top five experiences of my life,” Tillman told WBZ-TV’s Dan Roche. “Other than the birth of my kids and my wedding, this was right up there. When I see the fans, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced so much love from fans in my life. So that was pretty awesome.”

After the parade experience, Tillman better understands the feeling that comes from winning at the highest level.

“I didn’t have great expectations at first, but now I understand why people want to repeat their success and win as many championships as possible once they’ve won the first one,” he said.

Tillman, who was traded from the Grizzlies to the Celtics before the 2024 trade deadline, would play two games in this year’s NBA Finals. His most notable performance was Game 3 in Dallas, where he made a 3-pointer and also put pressure on the Mavericks’ best player, Luka Doncic, who has been selected to the All-NBA First Team five times and is the league’s leading point scorer in 2024. Tillman played 11 minutes in that game.

“It was an incredible feeling, an incredible feeling,” Tillman told NBC Sports Boston after Game 3. “I feel like after all the preparation I went through, I was ready for my moment whenever it was needed. I play my game, my game is defense, my game is communication, my game is setting blocks and hitting corner threes. That’s how I play my game.”

Tillman averaged 4.0 points per game, 2.7 rebounds and 1.0 assists in his 20 games with Boston this season.

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