The narrative is out there, and it has legs. Despite the fact its general principle has been proven a fallacy, it won’t die. It’s like Freddie Krueger — or those Kars-4-Kids ads.
According to the theory, the playoff Celtics could be in trouble because Joe Mazzulla is a first-year NBA head coach going up against more experienced rivals. Forget about rookies Ty Lue and Nick Nurse overcoming that handicap to beat defending champion coach Steve Kerr in 2016 (Lue with the Cavaliers) and 2019 (Nurse with the Raptors). And leave aside, too, Ime Udoka getting his 51-win Celts to the Finals last June. Joe’s 57-win Shamrocks still carry a burden of doubt among some.
As with most things, he gets it.
“Listen, you can’t run away from the fact that the playoffs have a different consequence,” he told Heavy Sports as he stood in the hallway outside the Celtics’ inner sanctum at TD Garden. “But the bigger things are, the more simple they are. So my goals are to do the same things I’ve done all season — rely on my staff, rely on the players and rely on the experience that I’ve had, because I’ve worked for great people.
“I’ve been a part of a lot of playoff series. That doesn’t mean that there’s not going to be mistakes made, but I have a lot of good people around me between staff and players. Our locker room is really intact, and I think that’s just as important as anything else.”
Late in the March 6 loss in Cleveland, Mazzulla twice shouted at Grant Williams, “Stop making it about yourself.” The coach has proven adept at taking his own advice. He understands the focus is — and should always be — on the people in uniform.
Said one opposing team executive, “Joe has an especially great job for a first job … although pressure to win every night is not easy in its own right. But at least it’s simplified. The goal is so simple and so obvious, win a championship, and that’s a lot to be put on the shoulders of a first-year coach. Everybody can say it’s easy because of all the talent they have, but you have to know how to deal with players that good.”
An Eastern Conference coach now in management stated his appreciation for Mazzulla and the way he’s secured the room after taking over for Udoka in a difficult situation.
“Insecurity drives a lot about what’s going on in this league,” he said. “To me, the most important thing you should look for in a coach is a certain understanding or self-awareness and the ability and interest in communicating with people. X’s and O’s… we can hire X’s and O’s. I mean, hell, it ain’t quantum physics to draw a couple of X’s and O’s on the board and say, ‘OK, here’s where an opening might be.’ The question is the management of your own ego and your ability to manage other people’s egos and communicate through it. That, to me, is the critical requirement for an NBA coach. This guy has it.”
Mazzulla’s Approach: ‘Involve Everyone’
People who’ve worked with him say he is the antithesis of the autocratic coach. “He involves everyone,” said one.
“I have the humility to understand that I don’t know everything,” Mazzulla told Heavy. “And the reason why you have staffs is so that people can be better than you at the things that you’re not. This staff is one of the best staffs that I’ve worked on, and there’s nothing more empowering than relying on them and on the players. They’re the ones that are out there. They’re the ones that see it. And we have such an experienced locker room of guys who have played for great coaches and played on other great teams. We have to be able to all work together on coming to the most important things.”
Through the course of the season, Mazzulla has separated himself from a lot of his peers by his relatively calm demeanor on the sideline.
“Joe’s a really good person, and he’s a tough son of a b****,” said one of those more animated foes. “He’s a competitor, he’s a worker and he’s humble. He doesn’t think he’s God’s gift to the world. He knows he’s in a great place. He knows it’s an amazing opportunity. Like, those things are real. That’s not fake. That’s who he is. He’s smart, and he’ll be a way better coach next year than he is now because he’s a learner. Smart people are learners.
“Trust me, people in the league are very impressed with Mazzulla. They know how hard that job can be. I think we all figured he was going to be the guy there long-term once they gave him the interim job. But I’ll tell you this, if he was still the interim after the season, he’d have definitely had a lot of opportunities to be the head coach somewhere else in the league next year. I know there were some teams asking some questions.”
Though we’re told he hasn’t changed appreciably from his sideline time at Fairmont State, it’s clear he knows he’s at a different level with different requirements.
“It’s not college coaching,” said a league exec. “These are grown men. They have mortgages and families just like you do.
“You coach with command in college, because the title grants you that authority. You coach in the pros with power, and power is earned. You earn that with consistent communication, consistent engagement. You coach these guys at their discretion, and they can withdraw it at any time.”
Most regular-season wins by a rookie head coach in Celtics history:
1. Bill Russell – 60
2. Joe Mazzulla – 57
Mazzulla Welcomes Playoff Pressure
Through 82, the Celtics have kept their accounts in the Bank of Mazzulla. There has yet to be heard a discouraging word from the room, no whispers. (Hey, remember when Kyrie passive-aggressively tagged Brad Stevens for not double-teaming Kemba Walker in Charlotte that time?)
Perhaps part of the reason things are quiet is because Mazzulla encourages his guys to talk it out.
“I want players to ask questions,” he said. “I think that’s most important thing, because they’re the ones playing. They have experiences that they bring with them. We do things a unique way, and I wish they questioned me more sometimes so that we can be on the same page. I always want them to be comfortable, because if they’re not comfortable executing what I ask them to do, then we have a disconnect, and the most important thing is being connected. And our guys are really great at that.”
Mazzulla is well aware that folks will be questioning the hell out of him if the Celtics suffer the tragedy of a loss. He knows what’s coming.
“I’ve always said no one going to put more pressure on me than I put on myself,” he told Heavy. “The goal here is to win a championship. Every coach is going to make mistakes during the playoffs. Every coach. But it’s about finding the small details, the really, really small things, and taking advantage of those. And, really, it’s about having great players and a great locker room and a great staff.
“But ultimately it’s the same, it’s basketball. The more things change, the more they stay the same. The little things are still the most important.”
The narratives? Not so much.