I’ve done a complete turnaround on Joe Mazzulla.
During the 2022 Eastern Conference finals I wrote that the Celtics shouldn’t keep him. They’d been forced to hire him based on the timing of the Ime Udoka scandal and didn’t have time for a full search. He’d been prone to tactical mistakes and simply didn’t seem ready for the job he’d been thrust into. The Celtics couldn’t risk coaching mistakes derailing real championship potential.
I was wrong. Very wrong. And I’ve come all the way around.
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Mazzulla has become the most interesting sports figure in New England. After years of aggressively vanilla Brad Stevens and strategically boring Ime Udoka, when Mazzulla sits in front of a microphone, nobody knows what might come out of his mouth and nobody wants to miss it.
Mazzulla is a fan of Premiership soccer, “The Town” and mixed martial arts. He wants to allow fighting in basketball, thinks the royal family is Jesus, Mary and Joseph and doesn’t feel pressure because as he said:
“We’re all going to be dead soon.”
He’s a philosophizing black belt in jiu-jitsu, who is maybe a little paranoid. Bill Lee meets Gregg Popovich meets Bill Lee. Mazzulla’s latest viral line came Friday. It was about former assistant Charles Lee, who now coaches the Hornets.
“There’s a cordiality there, but it’s very important not to give away psychological tells — things that can lead to an opportunity to give away a psychological leak,” Mazzulla said. “So I just try to be cordial without giving away those psychological components. I told Charles when he left, ‘I’m not talking to you during the season. I’m not waving to you at the national anthem. I’m not doing that. You’re an enemy.’ So he breached NBA rules and came into the assistant coach locker room and forced me to give him a hug. That could easily be a psychological tell that knocks you off your game competitively. So he knew what he was doing.”
What psychological tell or psychological leak can someone get from a hug? Did Charles Lee know what he was doing? It really doesn’t matter. It’s simply a reminder that Joe doesn’t perceive the world like most people.
It’s not just entertaining — although it certainly is. It’s a window into the way Mazzulla’s brain operates. This isn’t Kendrick Perkins’ performative outrageousness either. Mazzulla is too unique not to be genuine.
It would be a huge oversimplification to think of Mazzulla as just a quirky collection of beliefs and approaches. He can coach. Mazzulla was a much better coach in 2023-24 than he was in his first season. Many new coaches fail because they’re trying not to screw up. They end up cosplaying a stereotypical head coach because that’s what they think it’s supposed to look like.
Not Mazzulla. He’s an active participant in his own evolution. He’s seeking improvement and he’s doing it his way. That unusual approach is perfect for this Celtics team. As they’ve waded into the water of a season when they are the overwhelming favorite, Mazzulla has been exactly what this team needs.
Unlike some coaches who trot out the same tired motivational lines from “Coach Speak for Dummies,” the Celtics aren’t going to tune Mazzulla out. His slightly off-center look at the world is weird, but filled with practical wisdom. He’s modeling a focus on consistent improvement. The Celtics are still evolving, not worrying about the far-off playoffs.
Like last year, they’ve successfully stayed in the moment and haven’t skipped steps. They’re not playing like there’s pressure and why should they?
They’re all going to be dead soon anyway.
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
