Al Horford reveals Celtics thoughts on Joe Mazzulla antics after latest stunt

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics are NBA Champions, but they’re dipping their toes into other sports as well. At a recent practice, they tried their hands at whiffle ball. Joe Mazzulla brought a bunch of bats and balls to practice, and photos surfaced on Twitter of the team getting after it on the diamond (the practice court).

Since he took over in Boston, Mazzulla has refused to succumb to norms. Instead, he’s decided to pave his own way, implementing a wide variety of ideas and links to help the Celtics improve. Last season, it paid off with a title, and this year, he’s not slowing down.

And the Celtics are fully on board.

Joe Mazzulla declared it whiffle ball day for the Celtics

After practice on Sunday, Al Horford shared the team’s thoughts on Mazzulla’s antics.

“Honestly, just keeping an open mind,” Horford said. “There's a lot of new concepts, a lot of new things that are being thrown around, and what I've learned, in what is going to be my third season with Joe, is just trusting him. We're all just kind of seeing where it goes. And I feel like it usually pays off for us. So, I’m trusting whatever he tells us to do.”

Obviously, Mazzulla’s style is abnormal for an NBA coach. Some guys throw in their own sprinkle of uniqueness, but Mazzulla takes that to a whole new level.

But Boston is never hesitant to latch on. At this point, they know what they’re getting into.

“Not really,” Horford said of any potential skepticism. “I think at this point, we’ve known long enough that he is different. But I think that we know that, if we want to keep getting better, we have to be able to be different. To have different things. And that’s something he always emphasizes.”

As for whiffle ball, in particular, Derrick White is a fan.

“I just think, one, it's a good warm-up,” White said of Boston’s other-sport warm-ups. “That's usually what we're doing it for. And it's kind of to just get your mind off the game for a second, before we all lock in for the practice, and you can learn so much from every sport. So, anytime you can have fun out here, that's the goal.”

That said, White’s swing doesn’t exactly go hand-in-hand with his sweet three-point stroke. He swings lefty, and it’s all because of his dad, Richard, and his inability to pull the ball.

“I'm a natural righty, but my dad made me a lefty because I kept hitting the ball—I was small, obviously—and I kept hitting the ball, I couldn't pull it,” White said. “So, he made me a lefty, so I would hit it to shortstop or third base. 

“Little kids couldn't make the throw, and then they started being able to make the throw, and that was the end of my baseball career. But it was fun. I liked it.”

Whether it’s whiffle ball or Judo, Mazzulla is constantly bringing in elements of other sports into the Celtics’ sphere, and they’re fully on board.