Joe Mazzulla reacts to Jim Montgomery’s firing: ‘You hate to see a coach have to go through that’
"You hate to see a coach have to go through that but we all get hired to get fired."
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla reflected on his relationship with former Bruins coach Jim Montgomery during his pregame news conference ahead of the Celtics’ matchup with the Cavaliers Tuesday night.
The Bruins fired Montgomery on Tuesday after a 8-9-3 start to the season. He was in his third season with the Bruins. Both of his previous seasons ended with postseason losses to the Florida Panthers.
Although he didn’t know Montgomery well, Mazzulla said it was tough to see him get fired.
“I talked to him a couple of times. It’s tough,” Mazzulla said. “I talked to him a few times and I like watching the games but I didn’t really dive deep into his coaching philosophy and stuff like that. You hate to see a coach have to go through that but we all get hired to get fired.”
Mazzulla, a Rhode Island native whose sports viewership stretches far beyond just basketball, has formed relationships with a number of local coaches.
He attended Patriots practices under both Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo. Mayo said he had Mazzulla sit in on a few defensive meetings with the team. Red Sox manager Alex Cora said Mazzulla came to batting practice at a road game last year.
When the Celtics visited Fenway Park after winning the championship last June, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens joked that Mazzulla would find some kind of teaching point from the game.
Mazzulla’s late father, Dan Mazzulla, was a longtime high school basketball coach in Rhode Island.
Last year, Mazzulla visited Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola in England at the team’s soccer academy. Guardiola sat court-side at Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals in Boston.
Boston has been no stranger to coaching turnover within its professional sports teams in recent years.
Belichick was fired last January. Mazzulla replaced Ime Udoka right before the 2022-23 season. Revolution coach Bruce Arena also resigned in 2023. The Red Sox had an interim manager for a year after Cora was suspended for the 2020 season over a sign-stealing scandal.
It’s an unfortunate reality, Mazzulla said, but it comes with the territory.
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