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Kendrick Perkins quickly went from calling Joe Mazzulla a bird brain to having the Boston Celtics coach’s back.
Perkins, the outspoken ESPN analyst and member of the last Celtics championship team in 2008, was overly critical of the second-year coach after Boston’s first home loss of the season, a 102-100 defeat suffered at the hands of the Denver Nuggets on January 19, 2024. Recently, he changed his tune on Mazzulla, saying how much he loves him and complimenting him in guiding the Celtics to the best record in the NBA.
Kendrick Perkins and Joe Mazzulla Have Traded Jabs Recently
The Celtics own the league’s best record at 43-12 as the league emerges from All-Star Weekend. The Celtics began the season with a record-setting 20 straight victories at home before the defending champion Nuggets put a halt to the streak.
After that game, Perkins was a bit harsh on the Celtics coach.
“They have two Joe Mazzullas,” Perkins said during an episode of ESPN’s “NBA Countdown.” “They have the philosophy of we’re going to get up more 3s than you. When they hit them, he looks great.
“Then you have the other Joe Mazzulla, who just stands over there, and you wonder. If you take his brain out and you put it in a bird, the bird is going to start flying backward. You got that Joe Mazzulla.
“You know why I say that? It’s because he doesn’t get his guys easy looks. Time and time again, we kept saying, attack the paint. You have so many guys that are great at cutting. They cannot continue to play AAU style basketball all the time.”
Mazzulla acknowledged Perkins’ comments prior to a game when discussing injuries to some of his players. When asked if he could give a “doctor’s opinion” on thos injuries, Mazzulla quipped, “I’m a bird brain. You know I can’t do that.”
Perkins Says He Loves Mazzulla
While Perkins seemed a bit harsh with his comments about Mazzulla, the fourth-quickest coach to reach 100 wins in his NBA coaching career, he recently changed his tune. During a one-on-one interview with Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston, he said he actually loves the Celtics coach.
“I actually love Joe Mazzulla,” Perkins told Forsberg. “I love that he claps back at me. That’s a great thing, but I think he has done an excellent job as far as coaching, putting these guys in a position to be successful.
“I think defensively he got ’em clicking on all cylinders. Offensively, they’re spreading the ball around. You can see certain nights when it’s Derrick White, it can be his night to go off. It can be (Jayson) Tatum’s night to go off, Jaylen Brown’s night.
“You can tell that the message in that locker room is about winning a championship, and when you see that on the floor, that’s a reflection of the coach.”
That’s a far cry from what Perkins said last month, but Perkins is one who does a whole lot of talking and doesn’t always make a whole lot of sense.
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