Joe Mazzulla explained why he talks about fighting so much
“Everybody is fighting something whether they’re willing to admit it or not."
For years, Joe Mazzulla has challenged himself through martial arts training. His dad took him to karate lessons when he was a kid.
He started taking jiu-jitzu classes when he was coaching at Division II Fairmount State and opened up to The Boston Globe about the experience in 2023.
Last year, after Brandon Jennings called Jayson Tatum the softest superstar in the NBA, Mazzulla responded by saying that he wished everyone walked around with five coins that allowed any one to challenge each other to hand-to-hand combat at any time.
Not allowing fighting is the biggest thing the NBA “robs people of from an entertainment standpoint,” Mazzulla said last fall, while mentioning that basketball is one of the few sports that doesn’t have a power play.
Celtics center Xavier Tillman said Mazzulla talks about fighting almost every day within a variety of contexts. On Tuesday afternoon, the Celtics coach was asked why.
The concept is universally relatable, the coach said.
“Everybody is fighting something whether they’re willing to admit it or not. You could be fighting a cold,” Mazulla said. “You could be fighting your allergies. You could be fighting your wife or your husband. You could be fighting with somebody, I mean, everybody is in a fight for something.
“You could be fighting for a parking spot, you fight for armchairs so you can be more comfortable,” Mazzulla added. “You fight everywhere, and so you have to be able to have an understanding of how you’re willing to do that. I think in fighting, you have to have self-awareness, you have to have humility, you have to know who you are.”
Offseason acquisition Chris Boucher was asked to describe what the Celtics’ energy has been like during practices this preseason. His answer was succinct.
“It’s a war,” he said. “I like it.”
Boucher wasn’t the only Celtic to say the practices have felt like a war. Payton Pritchard made a similar comment earlier this month when he appeared at the podium with a cut on his neck.
Fighting can be both a powerful metaphor and a humbling experience. It tests you in number of ways, according to Mazzulla.
“You have to know what you’re good at, what you suck at. You have to know what the opponent is good at, and what they suck at,” the coach said. “You have to have a level of humility to know that I can’t be great, we can’t be great if we don’t do this together. So I think it immediately tests your self awareness and your humility and your ability to go after something. It’s a great representation of what life is about and you have to go through it.”
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