Joe Mazzulla draws wildest and most relatable inspiration yet from unlikely place

BOSTON — The Boston Celtics are back, and that means Joe Mazzulla is, too. For the entirety of last season, Mazzulla embedded himself within the walls of NBA Twitter, delivering iconic quote after iconic quote. But never on purpose. Mazzulla wholeheartedly believes in every single metaphor, challenge, and connection he concocts, and that’s what makes the phenomenon so unique.

Fresh off a championship, Mazzulla got to enjoy a new challenge this summer: Repetition. Rather than attempting to defend the title, he wants the Celtics to chase a new one. So, this offseason, he had plenty of time to brew up some new lessons to help his team.

And the 2024 Paris Olympics were a perfect canvas.

Joe Mazzulla metaphors just keep getting better

After Celtics practice on Friday, Mazzulla revealed that there was a particular Judo match that stood out to him, linking it back to a common theme from last season.

“There was a Judo match that I watched where the guy was up 1-0, and something happened where he fell and lost because of a penalty right at the end,” Mazzulla said. “And he lost the gold. It was some small technicality that he lost on.

“And it was amazing that, at the critical point, with eight seconds left in the match, being able to win, you lose. And you were up one. And so I thought that was pretty interesting.”

For the past two years, Mazzulla has preached the idea of the winning team being in the most vulnerable position. If a team is winning by a wide margin, they enter safety mode, whereas the opponent enters do-or-die mode. One is playing their hardest, trying to get back into the game, while the other is simply trying to stay afloat.

That’s where comebacks come into play.

The Olympics provided him with some great perspective on what it looks like to win, lose, and plan.

“I think just any environment you go into can breed different themes, concepts, [and] principles that go into what we're trying to accomplish,” Mazzulla said. “And it's such a long year. I thought the Olympics [were] a lot of that. 

“You see a ton of individual competitors [and] team competitors going after greatness. Gold medal, silver medal, bronze medal, [and] goes into a success or a failure. So, [I] watched a lot of different Olympic events, just kind of studying how people approach that. And so, that was fun.”

Basketball and judo couldn’t be any more different. One’s an individual sport, the other played with a team. One’s about breaking down an opponent in hand-to-hand combat, the other focused on buckets. Yet somehow, someway, Mazzulla managed to find a link.

Everything from killer whales to Miami Dolphins wide receiver routes has been utilized in Mazzulla's mind, and that’s what makes his coaching style so fun to track.