Mazzulla has a very trademark response to how he interacts with rival coaches originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla knows that you never want to give your opponents any kind of advantage, whether it’s big or small.
So don’t expect him to go out of his way to be best friends with opposing head coaches during the NBA season.
Mazzulla is cordial with and respects his coaching counterparts, but he told reporters Friday that he didn’t set out to be friendly to rival coaches because “it is very important not to give away psychological stories.” That includes Charles Lee, who was an assistant coach on Mazzulla’s staff with the Celtics last season before leaving over the summer to become the head coach of the Charlotte Hornets.
“I told Carlos when he left, ‘I don’t talk to you during the season. I don’t wave at you during the national anthem. I don’t do that. You are an enemy,'” said Mazzulla, via Zack Cox of the Boston Herald.
“So he broke NBA rules and came into the assistant coaches’ locker room and forced me to give him a hug. That could easily be a psychological story that takes you off your game competitively. So he knew what he was doing.”
Fortunately for the Celtics, they won both games of their back-to-back against the Hornets in Charlotte back on November 1st and 2nd.
Most NBA players are good friends, and many of them will hug or hug in some way after games. Head coaches do this too, especially when they’ve known each other for a long time or worked on the same staff at one point. We probably won’t see Mazzulla being this friendly very often. And, frankly, it’s a perfectly reasonable way to go about things. There’s always time to catch up and be friends in the offseason.
The Celtics started their title defense strong with a 10-3 record, good enough for second place in the Eastern Conference behind the 13-0 Cleveland Cavaliers. Mazzulla and the C’s will be back in action Saturday night when they host the Toronto Raptors at TD Garden.
