Jrue Holiday will look to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to their first playoff appearance in five years in his first season with the team. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
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Jrue Holiday is looking forward to starting his next chapter with the Portland Trail Blazers.
The 35-year-old guard has done it all, winning championships with two different franchises, going to the All-Star Game and establishing himself as one of the best perimeter defenders during the course of the past decade.
After helping the Boston Celtics get over the hump and win their first title in the Jayson Tatum/Jaylen Brown era, he’ll have the opportunity to lead the Blazers back to relevance. Portland hasn’t been to the playoffs since the 2020-21 season and they haven’t won a playoff series since 2019.
Holiday will look to help change the culture as he’s done in his previous stops.
“Honestly, to win,” says Holiday in a one-on-one interview of his objective in Portland. “Whatever that looks like, if it’s making the playoffs, if it’s having a better record than last season, but it’s to win and bring a culture of winning. I think they added me and wanted to add me for that reason, because of where I’ve been and what I’ve done, maybe even my knowledge of the game.”
The addition of a Holiday is a good one considering his deep playoff experience and history of winning combined with the fact that Portland has two young guards – Shaedon Sharpe and Scoot Henderson – that can use a mentor to help them get to the next level.
Holiday has been in the postseason in five consecutive years. Meanwhile, Sharpe and Henderson are expected to be the faces of the franchise, with Sharpe averaging 18.5 points per game last season and Henderson averaging a team-leading 5.1 assists per game last year.
“Having a team that’s so young, I can kind of come in and implement myself in a way to show them what it’s like to win, and honestly how hard it is to win because you’re going up against the best players, the best teams every single night, and the Western Conference is kind of a beast,” says Holiday. “I’m super excited for the opportunity. Coach Chauncey has me and us already out here, working out together, trying to build that chemistry, and it’s been fun.”
Jrue Holiday Says His Role With the Blazers Is ‘Whatever The Team Needs’
Holiday has played a number of roles throughout his 16-year career, including being a leading scorer, being a lockdown defender and playing a complementary role as he did in Boston.
The 16-year veteran says his role in Portland is whatever they need him to be. That kind of flexibility and versatility is a big reason why Holiday remains in the NBA entering his 17th season. Of the top 17 selections in that year’s draft, Holiday is one of four players still in the league.
“I think my consistent role is to be a leader and to push these guys to to win,” says Holiday. “It’s also been whatever the team needs. I feel like I’ve had tthat mindset and that personality ever since I played basketball. If it’s to score that night, if it’s to defend that night, if it’s to be a playmaker and get somebody else going.
“If it’s to be able to instill confidence in someone, and somebody is having a lull, to be able to instill confidence in him,” Holiday continues. “It’s just a little bit of everything that I do, and I always do my best to do that.”
The veteran guard acknowledges wanting to help Sharpe and Henderson to get to the next level as the Blazers look to establish a winning culture for the first time in years. Portland went 36-46 last season, which was actually a drastic improvement over the 21-61 season that they posted the previous year.
Billups is now entering his fifth season in Portland and he’s expected to take the next step – which is winning games and getting into the postseason.
Holiday doesn’t sugarcoat it when he says the goal is to win. There’s no point during the conversation where the two-time NBA champion doesn’t constantly hammer home that the objective is to win and make noise in the playoffs.
“To win,” Holiday says of the goal this season. “I feel like winning and competing and showing these guys that have so much talent. I don’t think ya’ll understand that Scott and Shaedon are so athletic and so smart the way that they play the game. They’re going to be so good and I feel like all they need is time. I feel like the time is now, because they have all the tools. I’m super excited to play with them.”
Jrue Holiday Credits Thorne For His Longevity In The NBA
As Holiday prepares for his 17th season as one of the older players in the league, his routine and the supplements that he takes are extremely important. It’s a big reason why he uses Thorne, a dietary supplement company. Holiday mentions using their creatine and magnesium and products and it’s a big reason for his longevity.
“Thorne’s just been helping me play 17 years in the league,” says Holiday. “I’m going into my 17th year, and something that I love about this sport, and even just in life, is being as healthy as possible. Thorne is that product that’s helped me for seven or eight years now. Because they’re NSF certified, they’re clean for all sports, I’ve taken it during the Olympics, I’ve taken it during the Finals, literally taking it essentially every year for the last eight years. It’s been some of the healthiest basketball that I’ve played.”
The 35-year-old guard says Thorne products have bettered him physically and mentally since he started using them nearly a decade ago.
“They’re definitely a huge part of my success and how I perform,” says Holiday. “Obviously, this partnership has been really, really great for me. I’m not sure what they’re getting out of it, but it’s been really awesome just to better my mental health and my physical.”
Holiday names a number of reasons why the product has benefited him, filling his vitamin C and vitamin D nutrients by taking Thorne. He says that it helps him play 40 minutes a game this deep into his career.
“They have a lot of products that help you with performance,” says Holiday. “Obviously, they have a great creatine product that helps you with peak performance and endurance. Sometimes you wake up with this cloudiness sometimes when you wake up. Creatine also helps me with that, so that’s one of the first things to take in the morning, as well as collagen. Collagen is obviously for your tendons and your ligaments, to help strengthen those. I take mine with orange juice, pretty simple, just shake it up. There’s electrolytes that I use daily.”