Michael Finley walked into the Celtics locker room and tossed a towel at Marquis Daniels.

“You’re still my rookie,” he said with a laugh.

Daniels pulled the towel away from his face and grinned, “I’ve still got rookie rollover minutes.”

Seven years after they first met, the “rookie” is now showing the veteran the ropes.

The relationship between Daniels and Finley began in 2003 when they were together with the Mavericks. Finley was entering his ninth season in the league while Daniels was trying to make his way into the NBA after going undrafted out of Auburn. The established leader saw potential in the determined rookie — even if there was a distraction blocking his view at first.

“I can remember him wearing gold teeth, just playing around,” Finley said of Daniels. “I told him, ‘You’re going to look back on these pictures and laugh.’”

Gold teeth?

“That was a Florida thing,” Daniels, an Orlando native, smiled. “I had golds in my mouth coming out of college. He always told me I was going to take them out one day. I was like, ‘I ain’t never taking my golds out.’ ”

Daniels paused, “I ended up taking them out.”

But the foundation of Daniels and Finley’s relationship wasn’t a list of do’s and don’ts. Rather, it was a veteran recognizing the talent of a younger teammate and helping him find success in the NBA, both on and off the court.

The swingmen played the same position and were often paired together during practice. Finley was always willing to offer advice, and Daniels was receptive to his word of wisdom — he averaged 8.5 points and shot nearly 50 percent from the field his rookie year.

“Mostly he always told me, ‘If you’ve got a smaller guard on you, just take your time out there,’” Daniels recalled. “‘Nobody’s going to come double you. Just take your time and just play your game.’ No matter what happens, he told me to always play my game.”

As Finley helped Daniels develop his game, the two faced each other in another type of game — Grand Theft Auto. But even then, it was more of a friendly rivalry than a heated competition. Sure, neither player wanted to lose. But it wasn’t about one-upping each other.

“We have a good relationship,” Finley said. “He came in as a rookie not knowing much about the NBA and I just pretty much took him under my wing just to show him the ins-and-outs of being an NBA professional. What made it easy was he was a good kid and he was willing to learn and he always just wanted the best for him. It was just an easy transition, our friendship.”

Finley continued, “[Off the court, we were] just playing video games, going out to eat, going out to clubs, just hanging out. More like a brotherly type relationship that we had early on. Again, because I liked him. A lot of guys you come in contact with and they have a big ego and it’s hard to get along with them. But he was a real humble kid, a good basketball player, and it all just worked out for us.”

The friends played two seasons together on the Mavericks before Finley signed with the Spurs in 2005. The following year, Daniels was dealt to the Pacers. They kept in touch as their careers took them in different directions and grabbed dinner together when the other came to town.

As time went on, Finley won a championship with the Spurs in 2007. Meanwhile, Daniels continued to exemplify the proven advice Finley had passed on to him early in his career.

“[He had] a good impact,” Daniels said. “Just from being a professional about everything I do, not being late, always being on time, knowing when to pick and choose your battles with coaches and different players. There’s just a lot of things you can learn from a guy who’s been playing in the league for a while. Like I said, tricks of the trade.

“I always was a guy that didn’t like to be late, never tried to miss anything, but just hearing him reassured it to me — ‘Never be late, rook. Always be on time. Be early. Leave late.’ Just some of the small things that coming here, guys may not think are important but are very important. A lot of people take notice of things like that.”

Last summer, the Celtics took notice and inked Daniels to a one-year deal to bolster their bench. Months after joining Boston, Daniels experienced a case of role reversal. The Celtics were interested in acquiring Finley, who had been bought out by the Spurs, and the veteran had questions. So he picked up the phone and called his trusted friend before he signed with the team last month.

“It was good to come into a strange place and see a familiar face, and he was one of the guys who I was most comfortable with before I got here because of the history that we had,” Finley said. “I just asked him questions about the team, the pulse of the team, what to look for, how was the coaching staff, the organization. And then just from being around the city, where should I go, what places should I avoid or look to live, those things have worked out for him. Now, I’m his neighbor.”

Celtics coach Doc Rivers is not surprised that Finley and Daniels have turned to one another over the years. It didn’t take much time for him to see similar characteristics in both of them.

“It’s an easy role reversal, because they’re both trustworthy,” Rivers said. “They’re both high character and they trust each other. I think the whole key when you have that is the trust factor between the two guys, and clearly it’s been built up from Finley with Marquis, so he trusts him back. It’s a good relationship.”

Finley has looked to Daniels, someone he says has gone “from a boy to a man,” as he gets acclimated with the Celtics on short notice.

“I’ve been helping him,” Daniels said. “He’s been learning different sets so he’ll come to me and ask me, ‘What’s this set? Or, ‘What’s that set?’ But I think he’s picking it up real good. Just being around, I know it’s good for him to see a familiar face, it’s somebody that he’s played around.”

Whatever insight Finley has received has been working. He’s shooting 53 percent from the field and 47 percent from three-point range (5.3 points) in 19 games with his new team. Daniels is just happy to help his friend whenever he can.

“It feels good,” he said. “It shows if you’re good to people, it comes back around. It’s a boomerang effect. It’s always good to help a guy who’s coming in. … Like I said, it’s good that he can come here and see a familiar face.”

Daniels is glad to be that familiar face, even if it is one with a towel tossed at it. Besides, Finley may have 15 years of NBA experience, but his rookies are few and far between.

“Yeah he’s always going to be my rookie,” Finley said, laughing. “As long as he’s alive and well, he’ll be my rookie. But that’s the bond that we have. I only have a couple guys who I consider my rooks in my lifetime and he’s definitely one of my favorites.”

“He thinks [I’m still his rookie],” Daniels said, smiling again. “He’s a great guy.”