Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla and his staff played reporters in a pickup game. It went as expected
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BOSTON (AP) — Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla wants to win, no matter the opponent.
Even when playing against reporters.
Here’s what happened: The Celtics had told their reporters that they could use the Auerbach Center courts for a media game after practice on Tuesday. But Mazzulla had a surprise planned as well.
“You’re not playing against each other,” Mazzulla told the group. “You’re playing against the coaches.”
With that, he walked away from the post-practice media scrum. Game on.
Well, sort of.
Final score: Celtics coaches 57, Celtics media 4. And yes, the coaches were still shooting deep 3-pointers as time expired. Mazzulla actually fist-pumped after the final basket. There was no running out the final seconds of a lopsided game, as would typically be the case in an NBA contest.
“I know Joe wanted to keep us scoreless,” Boston.com’s Khari A. Thompson good-naturedly posted on X after the game. It should be noted that Thompson was responsible for one of the two baskets by the reporters.
In fairness, the Celtics’ coaches who played Tuesday were no slouches. Amile Jefferson won a national championship at Duke. Mazzulla and Da’Sean Butler played in the Final Four with West Virginia. Phil Pressey scored four or more points 52 times in his NBA playing career. The media contingent surely knew it had no chance. The coaches ended the game on a 15-0 run, which sort of doesn’t matter considering they also started the game on a 42-2 run.
“The sheer gap in athleticism — speed, size, instincts, you name it — felt so insurmountable that I can hardly pinpoint what even went down,” Celtics reporter Noa Dalzell wrote after the game. “I’d love to take a look at a box score, but the amount of live-ball turnovers we accrued would probably make me sick.”
Mazzulla, to his credit, stuck around for the “real” media game afterward. Final score there: 25-22.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA