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Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla knows a thing or two about executing a carefully orchestrated gameplan on the basketball court, and it definitely sounds like he’s fantasized about robbing a bank when you consider he barely hesitated before outlining his plan for the perfect heist during a recent interview.
On Monday, the Boston Celtics secured an NBA title for the 18th time in franchise history by capping off their gentleman’s sweep of the Mavericks at home. It was a convincing victory for the team that finished with the best record in the league and one that proved second-year coach Joe Mazzulla is a force to be reckoned with after he secured his first championship at the age of 35.
Mazulla (who played college basketball at West Virginia before pursuing a career in coaching) is defined by his no-nonsense attitude, an encyclopedic knowledge of the game, and plenty of anecdotes that highlight the various quirks that make him a fairly enigmatic individual.
There isn’t a single one that sticks out quite like his love for The Town, the heist movie he says he watched “two to three times a week” while he was working as an assistant for the Celtics.
He also admitted he has a hard time visiting Fenway Park (which serves as the backdrop for the set piece that unfolds at the end of the film) without thinking about how he’d get away with a robbery there, and it doesn’t seem like that’s the only time he’s fantasized about pulling off a similar crime.
Mazulla chatted with Zach Lowe in the wake of Boston’s championship, and during the interview, the duo chatted about the coach’s borderline obsession with The Town before the ESPN columnist asked him what role he’d play if he got the chance to get involved with a similar crew of criminals.
The head coach didn’t have to think for a single second before responding, saying:
“I want to plan the whole thing, like attention to detail. Find the people that you know personalities and characteristics work for each position that you need. It’s all about the preparation. Once you’re in that moment, you have to rely on the preparation similar to a game.
So I would like to be the guy that plans it or hires the people and sets it in motion, or the guy that has to have steady hands, control his breathing to execute the safe.”
Based on what I know about Mazzulla, I have zero doubt he’d be able to execute both of those roles to perfection if he set his mind to it.