Sam Hauser reflects on contract extension with Celtics: ‘everybody wanted to be back’

Just a few weeks after signing a four-year, $45 million contract extension, Sam Hauser donned a white Maine Celtics T-shirt at a meet-and-greet at the North Shore Mall.

“It just reminds me kind of where it all started here in Boston,” Hauser said, gesturing at his shirt with a smile. “Or — I guess more in Maine.”

It wasn’t too long ago that Hauser was an undrafted free agent trying to figure out how to make it in the NBA. He signed a two-way deal with the Maine Celtics in 2021, hoping that that would serve as the beginning of an NBA career.

Needless to say, that turned out just fine.

Three years later, Hauser hit 11 three-pointers in five NBA Finals games en route to the Celtics’ 18th…