DALLAS — At this point, nearly two full seasons into Joe Mazzulla’s tenure as Celtics head coach, nothing really surprises the C’s players. Whether Mazzulla is talking about Spider-Man, UFC fights, killer whales, soccer or whatever else, it’s clear he’s trying to bring different aspects of life to his team.
Of course, each new topic comes with a new teaching point. The Spider-Man reference had to do with one of Mazzulla’s favorite sayings: Success is going to look different every night (like the different Spider-Mans in one of the films). The recent UFC fight clips were meant to be another lesson for his team: “The closer you are to beating them up, the closer you are to losing.”
Regardless of whatever message Mazzulla is trying to get across this team, it’s clear they’re having a lasting impact on his players — and that’s the most important part. The Celtics have fully bought into Mazzulla’s messages — wacky or not — all season, bringing together this talented roster. And that buy-in has them one win away from hanging Banner No. 18 after their Game 3 win over the Mavericks.
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“Joe does a great job of showing us clips and things from different sports,” Jayson Tatum said. “Just trying to translate that to the game of basketball: the closer you are to winning, the closer they are to surviving. Basically just trying to remind us in the group that we’ve still got a long way to go. We still have to play the right way. We’ve still got to win.”
The credit goes just about everywhere: from the front office building this roster to the coaching staff creating the culture to the players buying in. The Celtics are far from the first team to speak about sacrificing for the betterment of the team. If it was so easy, other teams would emulate that road to success. But the C’s have actually followed through on those words all season, giving up shots and playing for each other.
On the player front, it was also an intentional decision to follow Mazzulla after a sudden change prior to last season. Ime Udoka’s suspension-turned-dismissal has been well-documented, putting Mazzulla in an awkward situation just days before training camp. Back then, the players bought into Mazzulla’s system as they realized they’re in the middle of a title contention window. So for the past two seasons, they’ve just continued building off that trust, and it’s led them to this successful point.
“The coaching staff has been fantastic all season long,” Jaylen Brown said. “I’ve been saying that throughout the regular season, even before we got to the playoffs. It’s been just super organized. We’ve walked through all different types of scenarios. We’ve been like overly prepared and making sure that we know. … They tell us everything. Super transparent. And we trusted it.”
The Celtics are right on the edge of history as they’ll be immortalized after just one more victory. The process of getting to this point hasn’t been easy, and it included plenty of playoff heartbreak over the past several years. But the C’s have earned their current standing — and they’ve done so in a way that feels rare in a league where buy-in isn’t guaranteed.
“You have to expect the expected,” Mazzulla said, another one of his teachings. “You’ve got to understand we are just as vulnerable if not more vulnerable than they are. And we have to play that way. So as long as we have that mindset, and when you understand that you’re vulnerable and your back’s against the wall, you’ve got to fight. And so that’s the mindset that we have to have.”
