Joe Mazzulla reveals ‘comical’ strategy for addressing criticism of Celtics stars
The Celtics coach spoke about how he helps stars like Jayson Tatum keep constant criticism in perspective.
As Brandon Jennings showed earlier this week by calling Jayson Tatum the softest superstar in Celtics history, people always have something to say about star players.
The criticism comes with the territory. When you’re as famous and talented as Tatum or Jaylen Brown, the takes continue to fly.
There are positive takes and negative takes. Both can be dangerous if taken the wrong way, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.
“I don’t want them to believe all the positive stuff or all the negative stuff,” Mazzulla said. “Because both of them can be detrimental and neither one of them are that important. What they think of themselves, what I think of them, what the team thinks, what the people closest to them think (is).
“But, if somebody came out and said that he was the toughest of all time that could be just as detrimental if you decide to believe that and don’t use it to your advantage,” he added. “So, just don’t put too much weight in the praise or the criticism because at the end of the day, it’s fleeting. You’ve got to have perspective.”
One of the strategies the coach uses, he said, is to show Tatum and Brown a timeline of the criticism certain past NBA greats have faced over the course of their careers.
“I give them a timeline of like, here’s what was being said about him in the beginning,” Mazzulla said. “Here’s what was being said about him in the middle, and here’s what was being said about him in the end, and it was comical how people keep bouncing back and forth in the opinions.
“But you just kind of share perspective because every player has gone through something. If you want to be great, you’re going to go through that. So, it’ll help to maintain a little perspective on that.”
Mazzulla declined to name which former players he used as examples.
“But it’s hysterical to watch what people said at different timelines in his career,” he said. “And if they could be held accountable for those that would be great.”
Mazzulla, who played college basketball at West Virginia but never played in the NBA, said that he could not speak on the dynamic between former players who use their platforms to take shots at current players.
The lesson goes beyond just basketball, Mazzulla said. Everyone deals with criticism, and the way we think about it can shape both the way we deal with it and the way we dish it out.
“It just goes back to the perspective and the humility,” Mazzulla said. “If we all remembered where we came from and don’t hold ourselves in such high regard then we wouldn’t say stuff like that. If we would just remember the good and bad of ourselves.
“The older you get, the better you were as a player and that’s everybody,” he added. “People say that. If we all remembered who we were, then we probably wouldn’t have so many opinions of other people.”
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