Boston Celtics
Chad Finn is curious whether 57-4 will be a breakthrough for Joe Mazzulla in terms of how he views those who cover him — at least those who love basketball.
Two points — or two fewer than the Celtics media scored, if you wish to frame it that way — regarding the much-discussed 57-4 throttling Joe Mazzulla and his coaches put on those that cover the team at the Auerbach Center on Tuesday afternoon:
⋅ The Celtics media definitely needs more wings and at least two ballhandlers. Quick, someone give Rajon Rondo a weekly column in case there’s a rematch.
⋅ This is the important point: As usual, the social-media click-chasers who were quick to presume intent and posted gleefully about Mazzulla trying to humiliate the reporters missed all context and perspective.
Allow me to elaborate, since I was there as a sideline spectator. (DNP — Achilles, hip, knee, ancient)
Mazzulla enjoyed springing it on the reporters during his availability following practice that the scheduled media game, as part of promoting Jr. Celtics Academy, would actually be media vs. coaches.
And without a doubt he savored unleashing 94 feet of hell on the media, with Mazzulla, God Shammgod Jr., and former Celtics guard Phil Pressey fronting a full-court press.
To call it relentless would be an understatement. And you never realize how long an NBA court is — or how deep that 3-point line is — until you’re standing on one.
The relentlessness might have made for amusing social media posts, but the real story of the day was the eye-opening realizations, on both sides.
The media, if it required one, got a first-hand reminder of how hard basketball is and how talented someone like Celtics assistant Amile Jefferson has to be just to get a couple of shots in the league — 30 games over two seasons with the Magic, in his case.
And Mazzulla? I totally believe it was a revelatory day for him. He realized how much the people who cover the Celtics love the game too. It reminded me a little bit of Jaylen Brown making his way back to the Garden floor in the wee hours of the morning after the Celtics won the 2024 title, only to find a group of reporters — who had found a loose basketball amid the confetti-covered scene — getting shots up on the parquet.
“This is beautiful,” Brown said when he wandered onto the scene.
The camaraderie and desperate attempts at competitiveness in a hopeless situation for the media seemed to hit Mazzulla in a similar way. After the 12-minute beatdown, he stayed, along with most of his coaches and other staffers (such as vice president of basketball operations and team counsel Mike Zarren) to watch the media pickup game that followed.
And he was involved, the coach in him taking over. He ran the clock from the scorer’s table, constantly hollered instructions, came up with spot-on nicknames on the fly — colleague Khari Thompson was tagged “Kurt Thomas,” the longtime NBA power forward — and stuck around for several minutes afterward to casually chat about the games.
His guard was way down, and it reminded me of the version of Mazzulla we see at the end of the exceptional fifth episode of “All-In,” the Celtics’ docuseries from 2024 in which Mazzulla admits, with a nudge from his wife Camai, that he was sure his team was going to win the title at the Garden, either in five games or seven.
Perhaps all of this was a stroke of brilliance by the Celtics communications teams. After all, Mazzulla had one of his more contentious press conferences after Sunday night’s preseason game, getting angry with questions about the 3-pointer-heavy approach on offense — Mazzulla, agitated, explained in rich detail that what he looks for is two-on-ones, and that will be remembered now — and rebounding.
It wasn’t his best look, and he seemed to know it the next day, chatting good-naturedly and at length with reporters — including the one who asked the question about the offense, Hardwood Houdini’s Jack Simone — on Monday. Then came the great vibes of Tuesday, despite the scoreboard.
I’m curious whether this is a breakthrough for Mazzulla in terms of how he interacts with the media and views the job — or at least the basketball-loving people doing the job, anyway.
It sure seemed that way Wednesday, when he addressed reporters before the preseason matchup with the Raptors. His usual podium had been removed, per his request.
“One of the reasons there’s no stage up here today is because I felt like after yesterday we all had our guard down, and we were all in the competitive arena together,” Mazzulla said. “And that meant a lot to lower everyone’s guard and [give each other a hard time] and do all that stuff. So, it was cool to see everybody in a natural environment.
“And, sometimes, we’re coming from a competitive arena, and you’re not in a competitive arena — you’re just doing your job. And that’s where things get misinterpreted. But for all of us to be in the same arena, I think that says a lot.”
Mazzulla, who apparently has the spirit of a rec-league hooper, added that the only way Tuesday could have been better is if everyone had gone out for a beer afterward.
I’m sure he knew that such words sound as appealing to sportswriters as they would to Norm from “Cheers,” but he seemed to genuinely mean it.
Maybe he still will … at least until the next time he’s asked why his team shoots so many 3s.
Sign up for Celtics updates🏀
Get breaking news and analysis delivered to your inbox during basketball season.
