BOSTON — When the Boston Celtics flew down to North Carolina for two games against the Charlotte Hornets in November, they saw a few old friends. Among them was Charles Lee, who was the lead assistant in Boston last year, helping them bring home Banner 18. But in the midst of the reunion, Joe Mazzulla wasn’t fond of Lee’s actions.
“I told Charles when he left, like, 'I'm not talking to you during the season. I'm not waving to you at the national anthem. Just not doing that. You're an enemy,'” Mazzulla said. “And so, he came into the locker [room]. Breached NBA rules and came into the assistant coaches’ locker room and forced me to give him a hug. That [hug] could easily be a psychological tell that knocks you off your game competitively. So, he knew what he was doing.”
Fast forward to the final two games of the regular season, and it was the Hornets’ turn to make a trip for a two-game tilt. And Lee couldn’t do anything but laugh at November’s happenings.
He’s barely talked to Mazzulla this season, outside of the locker-room incident.
“Very little, besides the time when I walked into his locker room to greet him, and then he had the nerve to come up here and say I forced my way in or something,” Lee said with a smile. “Typical, Joe. But no, we've had a couple text messages, but very, very little conversation.”
It's impossible to tell if Joe Mazzulla is joking or not, but that's what makes it fun
Mazzulla famously keeps his cards close to his chest. From the few behind-the-curtain peeks that have surfaced from documentaries or social media videos, it’s clear that he’s a caring, thoughtful head coach and friend. But once the Celtics green is gone, and you join another team, all bets are off.
With Mazzulla, lines are already blurry when it comes to joking versus seriousness, so after leaving the Celtics sphere, the blur becomes almost indistinguishable.
“I love that about Joe,” Lee said. “You don't know if it's for real or if it's a joke. But that's why we've built such a great friendship. And I understand [that] in the heat of the moment or during the season, you are the enemy. If you're not wearing a Celtics uniform or in the Celtics organization, he's doing everything he can to prepare to beat you. And in the summer, he might share some knowledge with me, or wisdom, and we'll grab a beer together, or some wine.”
When Lee first joined the Celtics, it was the coaching equivalent of the Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen trades ahead of the 2008 title run. Lee and Sam Cassell joined forces on Mazzulla’s staff as assistants, despite both being heavily in the mix for head coaching jobs in prior years.
It took just one season for Lee to make the jump from championship assistant in Boston to head coach in Charlotte, and now, he’s heading up a LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller-led rebuild. But that one season he spent in Boston was special.
Lee bounced from Atlanta to Milwaukee, largely following Mike Budenholzer, for years before leaving to join Mazzulla. He won a title with the Milwaukee Bucks, and he earned his second ring at TD Garden back in June.
So, to be back in the building where he helped make history was an incredible feeling.
“A lot of emotions. A lot of joyous emotions,” Lee said of being back. “Number one, you get to come back into a pretty historic building as the head coach of a phenomenal organization, and you're building something in your first year, and to end the season here, it's pretty special. It's part of my journey. It kind of helped groom me to be ready for the position that I'm in now.
“And so just a lot of joy, a lot of gratitude when you walk in, because you're like, 'Man, I got to win a championship here, and I got to learn from so many people.' And all the things that helped prepare me for this moment is pretty special.”
In his return to Boston, Lee even got to add some long-awaited bling to his collection. “I did get my ring,” he said with a huge smile on his face. “Pretty special.”
Charles Lee learned a lot (and took a lot) from his one year with the Celtics
Lee’s departure was also a theft, as he took two of Boston’s coaches with him to Charlotte: Blaine Mueller and Jermaine Bucknor.
“Their work ethic, what they bring as people to our organization is really important, and then their knowledge base,” Lee said of why he brought Mueller and Bucknor with him. “I know that, with a younger team, with some good veterans as well, we need teachers of the game, and they both communicate and teach the game really well.
“Blaine, obviously, being the head coach in Maine, and Buck's career as a player, as well as a coach overseas. I knew that they both felt comfortable in those situations of running drills and developing players, and so I've loved having them on this journey. They've helped me a ton this year.”
Mueller’s one season as head coach of the Maine Celtics saw them reach the G League Finals for the first time in team history. Meanwhile, last year was Bucknor’s first as a player development coach in the NBA.
With Lee in the second seat, Boston was able to accomplish their ultimate goal. Now, he’s hoping to bring that same success to Charlotte.
And the principles of Celtics basketball are acting as pillars of his new coaching process.
“Just a work ethic. A daily improvement work ethic,” Lee said of what he’s trying to bring from Boston to Charlotte. “Seeing how everyone in the building, in the Celtics, everyone matters. Everything matters. It's all going to add towards winning.
“And so that's a lot of what we talk about in Charlotte is just trying to make sure we come in with a daily improvement mindset, and everyone in the building and everything that everyone does is going to contribute to winning.”