Boston Celtics HC reveals most important trait of a contender

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla sent a strong message on the most important trait a contending team must have in order to come together and win a championship as a group: trusting relationships.

“Relationships are still the most important thing, regardless of how much money you make, how important the logo is or how high stakes the situation is,” Mazzulla said. “You gotta build trust with each other. You build them in different ways in the NBA, but the foundational principles are the same.”

Given the Celtics have numerous players that have been on the team for at least five years — including the entire starting lineup of Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford (with a two-year break), and Robert Williams — Boston has a leg up on the competition when it comes to having relationships built. Winning the 2022 Eastern Conference finals surely added a layer of trust as well.

Boston Celtics HC Joe Mazzulla on adversity

Mazzulla’s style has been described as “militaristic” per MassLive’s Brian Robb, and a reason why is because he makes sure his players experience adversity. The Boston Celtics head coach’s stance on adversity is one that should make Cs fans feel good about their team battling in close-game situations when the stakes are raised in the postseason.

“Most people don’t practice adversity,” Mazzulla prefaced before saying, “Then when you’re hit with it, it’s harder to deal with. You have to be able to create that, so that when you’re tested with it, you can handle it better.”

Mazzulla’s former Fairmont State assistant Jesse Wukasch said that the Cs coach actually enjoys adversity.

“When adversity struck, he enjoyed that,” Wukasch said. “When adversity struck, it was a chance for him to show character, be strong as a leader and an individual for our program, for our team. I’d say he really tried to make sure that our team was solid.”