Celts
Beyond his track record as a championship-winning coach, Joe Mazzulla has already earned a popularity within the NBA as certainly one of the league's most quoted coaches.
Be it his obsession with “The Town”, the avoidance found the brilliant lights During the NBA Finals, he emphasized self-improvement with a stony face and made subtle jabs at Kendrick Perkins, the Boston head coach who stands out as the most unintentional viral star in sports.
And for those who ask on Wednesday podcast concerning the Celtics, as reigning NBA champions, being targeted by the remaining of the league, Mazzulla once more dropped a brand new classic quote about Boston's attitude initially of a brand new season.
“People will say the target is on our back, but I hope it's right on our forehead between our eyes. I hope I can see the red dot,” Mazzulla told Locked On Celtics host John Karalis.
The Celtics need to be the primary NBA team for the reason that Golden State Warriors (2017-18) to defend their title and are again considered favorites in 2024-25.
After losing just three games of their playoff run this spring, the Celtics are expected to return 15 of last season's 17 players.
Not only are the Celtics bringing back a whole lot of elite talent, but their two top stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown also needs to have a whole lot of motivation of their heads after eventful summers.
Brown was turned down by the U.S. national team for participation within the 2024 Summer Olympics, prompting him to take several swipes at Nike, certainly one of the U.S. national team's primary sponsors, via social media and music.
Although Tatum made the U.S. team for the second consecutive Olympics, he was a little bit of a supporting player in coach Steve Kerr's rotations in Paris. Tatum was benched twice within the U.S.'s games against Serbia and played just 11 minutes within the gold medal game against France.
Karalis asked Mazzulla how stars like Tatum and Brown can use these slights as motivation just months after seemingly reaching the head of the NBA as champions.
“They're two competitors and they are who they are,” Mazzulla said. They're two great players, so I'm not going to attempt to work out how they're going to go about it. If they need revenge for that specific game, great for them. Like I said, my primary job is to grow as a coach, to improve so I could make them higher and help them improve and be a catalyst for growth.
“Revenge is healthy and at the same time it's not. I think – like anything else – you can have a little bit of it, but I think it's a short-term thing and when that's used up, what are you supposed to rely on?”
Mazzulla is used to finding unique ways to motivate his team and convey his message. Sam Hauser noted in July that his coach once forced the Celtics to observe clips of killer whales hunting seals last season.
Mazzulla was asked by Karalis why the animal kingdom is a reliable analogy when attempting to instill principles in his team.
“The animal kingdom is the purest form of hierarchy and role definition that exists. Everyone plays their role. Anyone who breaks out of that role is killed.” said Mazzulla. “If you are trying to do something out of pride or arrogance, you’ll likely get killed.
“If you stay within the boundaries, you survive as long as you can until you can't anymore. I just think that's most related to hierarchy, role definition, competition, commitment, and all the things that lead to success and survival.
And yes, Mazzulla is a big fan of killer whales.
“For me, the killer whale [is] obviously the most energetic animal in nature,” Mazzulla said. “But they're humble. They very rarely attack their prey alone. And so you have this concept of, 'I know I could kill you alone, but I'm not going to do it unless I have my herd with me.' They only attack in groups of three or four, so there's a big aspect of humbleness there.”
image credit : www.boston.com