Last season, Svi Mykhailiuk was a younger player on one of the most historically dominant teams in NBA history.
His current setup couldn’t be further from that.
Mykhailiuk was the only member of the Celtics’ 2023-24 championship roster to sign with another club last offseason, joining the Utah Jazz on a four-year contract. The Jazz are … well, they’re much closer to landing Cooper Flagg than they are to title contention. They entered Monday’s game at TD Garden with a 15-49 record, the second-worst in the NBA.
Utah also is a much younger team than Boston. Whereas the Celtics don’t have a single rotation player younger than 27, the 27-year-old Mykhailiuk is the Jazz’s third-oldest player — and, as an NBA champion, an important source of veteran leadership.
“I would say (this season is) different, coming from being one of the youngest on the team last year to being one of the oldest on the team in a one-year span,” Mykhailiuk said before his first game back in Boston. “So I’d say it’s a little bit different, but it’s very exciting. Obviously, I get to play with the young guys, teach them, give them my experience, what it’s been like, and what we have to do to get better and reach our full potential.”
Mykhailiuk’s on-court role is larger now than it was in Boston, but he still isn’t an every-night player for Utah. He’s appeared in 26 games this season with 12 starts, averaging 19.8 minutes and 9.4 points per appearance.
Jazz head coach Will Hardy — himself a Celtics alum who coached under Ime Udoka in 2021-22 — said Mykhailiuk has been a great role model for the Jazz’s inexperienced roster, which features nine players who are 23 or younger. (Among those: fellow ex-Celtic Jaden Springer, who signed with Utah after [Boston traded him](https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/02/06/brad-stevens-explains-celtics-trade-reveals-top-priority-post-deadline/) last month.)
“He’s such a smart player,” Hardy said. “He’s very competitive. He’s a good teammate. I think his experience after being in this environment is really helpful for our young players because he has seen and felt where we wanna go. Our young players are very receptive when Svi talks because of the work he puts in. Like, he’s there every day, walking the walk and so I think while he can be quiet in certain moments, he has the respect of our locker room and he’s got the respect of the coaching staff.
“His role varies a lot. He can go five games without playing and then he starts, and I think that his professionalism shows up in those moments. It’s not just how he plays, but I think it’s a really good example for the rest of the young players that just because in a certain moment you’re not getting what you want, you have to continue to prepare to play and prepare like you’re going to play 35 minutes. Svi does that every day. He models really, really good behavior for our young players.”
Mykhailiuk, who received his NBA championship ring Monday night, said his season in Boston underscored the importance of togetherness, chemistry and sacrificing personal stats for the good of the team. He still keeps in touch with many of his former Celtics teammates and has the respect of head coach Joe Mazzulla.
“Svi was great,” Mazzulla said. “He goes into that category of the group of guys that can really impact winning, and on nights when you don’t have your guys, his ability to step in. He won games for us, and he won stretches of runs. I think that’s huge. I think that’s part of the reason why he’s continued to kind of stay in and I think that’s big. It’s important for that group of guys to know they’ve had an impact on winning, and you see that’s one of the strengths of this team now.”
Originally Published: March 10, 2025 at 7:27 PM EDT