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Joe Mazzulla is barely into his third year as the coach of the Celtics, but he’s already established himself as one of the most entertaining and enigmatic figures in the league thanks to his no-nonsense attitude. Now, we have another amazing entry into his canon of quirks thanks to the rant he went on after his former assistant coach had the nerve to hug him.
There were plenty of people who thought the Boston Celtics would be at a disadvantage when Joe Mazzulla was tapped to lead the team after the scandal that brought Ime Udoka’s time as head coach to an abrupt end around a month before the start of the 2022 season. However, it turned out to be a huge blessing in disguise for the franchise.
Mazzulla posted a 57-25 record while leading the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals during a stellar inaugural season that set a very high bar, but he was able to surpass it last year after the team went 64-18 and secured its first championship since 2008.
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The 36-year-old skipper has only been in charge for two full seasons, but he currently boasts the highest winning percentage of any coach in NBA history and is in a very solid position to continue to hold that particular throne now that the Celtics have gotten off to a 10-3 start.
Two of those victories were back-to-back wins against the Hornets on the road that gave Mazzulla the chance to face off against former assistant coach Charles Lee, who landed the job as the head coach in Charlotte in the wake of Boston’s title.
On Friday, Mazzulla made it very clear how he felt about that reunion when he said he prefers not to be friendly with other coaches due to the potential psychological edge he’d be losing by buddying up to his colleagues while calling out Lee for the seemingly innocent gesture he was subjected to when the two teams faced off at the start of November.
Joe Mazzulla explained how he doesn’t want to give coaches a competitive edge by buddying up with them, telling a story about how now Hornets coach Charles Lee came into Celtics coaches room and forced Joe to hug him 😂 pic.twitter.com/DdXBEhWONe
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) November 15, 2024
Here’s what he had to say:
“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 just not doing that. You’re the enemy.’
So he came into the locker room—he breached NBA rules—and forced me to give him a hug. That can easily be a psychological tell that knocks you off your game plan. He knew what he was doing.”
Part of me can’t help but wonder if Mazzulla simply has the driest sense of humor on the planet and a superhuman ability to commit to the bit, but there’s nothing in that video that suggests he wasn’t deadly serious about his disdain for a hug he went out of his way to confirm he didn’t enjoy when answering a follow-up question.
He might have one of the most perplexing personalities in the NBA, but he’s certainly doing something right on the coaching front.