Joe Mazzulla’s love of animal metaphors is unparalleled.
Mazzulla leaned into another in his podcast with Celtics writer John Karalis — a must-watch for any Celtics fan — talking about how he doesn’t want the Celtics to defend their title but rather attack it (hat tip Real GM).
“The phrase ‘defending a title’ is a very passive-aggressive term. If you look at the animal kingdom, some of the strongest animals don’t defend, they’re the most aggressive, and they attack the most. Whether you’ve won or haven’t won, your mindset can’t change. You have to understand what goes into winning and losing, commit to the details on a daily basis, and remain aggressive. You’re not defending something, you’re attacking a new goal.”
It’s an interesting way of saying every season is different, even if the team is essentially the same. Mazzulla was in vintage form during this podcast and added this in the first part of his interview with Karalis:
“People are gonna say the target is on our backs, but I hope it’s right on our forehead in between our eyes.”
Boston heads into this season the target of every other team, no matter where you put it.
The Celtics are the clear title favorite to open the season, coming off a 64-win season and a title. Mazzulla is trying to defend against complacency, but Steve Kerr and USA Basketball helped by benching Jayson Tatum for games at the Paris Olympics and snubbing Jaylen Brown — the Jays return with a chip on their shoulder. Boston will be without Kristaps Porzingis for the first months of the season following surgery to repair a rare ankle injury (a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon), but the Celtics have the depth to win regular season games without him, and when they really need him is the playoffs. Boston returned the top seven players from their title team and will set the bar for Philadelphia, New York, Oklahoma City, Dallas, Denver and every other team dreaming of hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy next June.
One thing is a sure bet for next season, Mazzulla will motivate his team in the most interesting ways.
