Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla is on the verge of entering his third full season Tuesday evening. The Celtics tee it off with the New York Knicks coming to town. As his team begins a long 82-game journey with repeating as champions as the overwhelming vision, Mazzulla recently opened up to Marc J. Spears, Senior NBA Writer for Andscape, in an outstanding one-on-one conversation about winning and how to maintain success in the NBA.
Joe Mazzulla Shares Lessons on Sustainable Success
Winning Means Respecting Your Opponent
Three years ago, Ime Udoka and the Celtics divorced due to some off-court issues involving the then-head coach. Not long after, a young Mazzulla stepped into the lion’s den. He was coaching from the second coaches row, behind the head coach and lead assistants. As it were, he received the call from the bullpen to take over leadership responsibilities of a team that had experienced some measure of success but had failed to reach the ultimate success—winning an NBA championship. His first season as Boston’s head coach had mistakes, mishaps, clock management flops, and overall game-planning issues. Over time, though, Mazzulla gradually showed he was one of the smartest coaches in the league. One season later, the Celtics tore through the league animal kingdom style and captured the franchise’s first title since 2008.
This week, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Mazzulla begin the hunt for ring number two. Repeating in any major sports league is a tall task. Yet, Mazzulla appears to have a solid foundational sense of how to be successful in the NBA. He also knows the key to keeping his team in check mentally as they strive to repeat as champions.
“It’s same thing with basketball. This is where the sustaining success comes in,” Mazzulla told Andscape. “You have to play the game knowing you’re the best but knowing that your opponent could beat you at any time. That’s fighting, that’s life, that’s basketball. That to me is what coaching and playing and being a part of the Celtics is. You have to know you’re the best, but you have to know you didn’t lose at any time.”
Having the Right Mindset Leads to Winning
Mazzulla sounds wise beyond his years, and you glean from his words throughout Spears’ interview. He’s also right, just because the Celtics were the best team throughout last season doesn’t mean there wasn’t a single team that couldn’t beat them. No team is virtually invincible. It just so happened that most teams couldn’t beat them when it counted. Still, Mazzulla is keen on respecting your opponent while keeping your eyes on the prize. A disrespect for your opponent leads to playing below your standards. Playing below your standards leads to losing, and losing leads to the hopeful recognition that you have lost sight of the prize. On the other hand, respect given in full measure expects the absolute best out of yourself. In Boston’s case, that “absolute best” resulted in a title.
It doesn’t matter whether the Celtics are playing a basement team or tied at two games apiece in the Eastern Conference Finals against a top-seeded team. Respecting your opponent produces excellence. That is that mantra Mazzulla will again strive to instill in his team as they look to win back-to-back championships this year.
“We have to know we have one of the best chances to win. One of them.” Mazzulla says. “There are a bunch of teams that have a chance. Can we play with the confidence and the humility to know we’re really good, but with the humility to know that we can lose at any time? That’s it.”
This is wisdom. Mazzulla’s over-arching perspective makes him one of the league’s top coaches. It’s also why the Celtics have every opportunity to repeat, and their chances are anything but slim.
