Here’s why Joe Mazzulla thanked every member of the Celtics organization after winning Boston’s 18th championship
“If everybody’s not trying to be the head coach in their role, we can’t achieve a high, high level of a successful organization.”
Joe Mazzulla’s unique leadership style was paramount in the Celtics’ NBA-record 18th championship victory earlier this year.
It’s well-documented that Boston’s third-season head coach can, and will, turn anything he sees into a lesson for his players. Whether the lesson stems from a Red Sox game or one of Mazzulla’s recent jiu-jitsu lessons, there are no bounds.
His coaching style and game-time demeanor may catch people off guard. But by all accounts, Mazzulla is a uniquely good person when the cameras aren’t on him just as much as he is a phenomenal coach when the cameras are glued to him during a contest.
Mazzulla recently appeared on an episode of the Celtics’ podcast, “View From The Rafters,” and host Marc D’Amico brought up how the coach personally thanked every member of the organization after Boston won its record 18th championship this year. Remaining humble, Mazzulla downplayed his touching act of kindness, explaining that doing so was a no-brainer.
“I thought it was important because when you have everybody in the right seat on the bus heading in the right direction, great things can happen. I also see it’s easy for parts of the organization to feel less than or not as valued as others,” Mazzulla said. “At the end of the day, if everybody’s not trying to be the head coach in their role, we can’t achieve a high, high level of a successful organization, and not counting wins. So it was just important that everybody knew everything they do is the most important thing for the team, for the organization.”
D’Amico explained that Mazzulla’s gesture was the first time he’d ever experienced that during his 16 years in the organization.
Mazzulla went on to explain how each member of each department that comprise the Celtics was integral to Boston’s title victory, and thus deserved a special “thank you.”
“There’s so many interactions that — because these organizations are getting so much bigger — there’s so many interactions that the players have before they even get to the court,” Mazzulla said. “The kitchen staff usually see the guys first because they go right there before. So the way they cook, how they greet the players, that’s gonna make an impact on how the guys perform.
“If you walk through a player’s perspective of our building, they usually see Nate (Eckley, manager of the Celtics) first, and then they see the kitchen staff, and then they may see some of the front office … and then they see the sports science. [The coaches are] the last people that they see. And so every interaction that is had is super important to them getting on the floor, ready to feel valued, but also ready to, like, we gotta be at our best.”
Mazzulla’s analysis of why every person involved in the franchise is crucial to the players’ success symbolizes why the Celtics have experienced so much success since he took over in 2022. It’s also certainly one reason why Boston is contending for back-to-back title wins.
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