What makes a good basketball coach? Certainly, a background in basketball expertise, combined with strong communication skills and emotional intelligence. Amidst all of this, however, one thing stands out more prominently than the others: leadership. The ability to know just how much the players need to be controlled, and when to know to give out praise to them. Having been a part of the NBA coaching world for over 7 years, Joe Mazzulla may not carry as much experience as several of his peers. Despite that, he knows when to coddle his players, and when not. If you’re looking for an example, then you need to look no further than his team’s recent game.

During Game 1 of the Boston Celtics’ first-round playoff series against the Orlando Magic, Joe Mazzulla was captured looking on when Jayson Tatum sustained a hard fall. The incident occurred as 8:29 remained in the 4th quarter. Tatum drove to the basket. As he rose for a dunk attempt, he collided with Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. and forward Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Tatum hit the floor hard and immediately grabbed at his right wrist.

As several people gathered around the player, Mazzulla was heard telling the Celtics trainer not to go out to Tatum. Then, with a strong and authoritative voice that would have made Mickey from Rocky V proud, he shouted, “GET UP!”. No matter what pain Jayson Tatum was going through, Mazzulla wasn’t going to coddle him.

This incident occurred before Mazzulla participated in the post-game presser. During the same time, he was asked about his thoughts on Jayson Tatum’s performance. The player had averaged 36.5 minutes in the last 4 regular-season games in April. 36.4 minutes throughout 11 games in March. In contrast to them, he recorded 40 minutes of playtime in the Celtics-Magic game. Given his injury scare, the player should have been put on a minutes restriction.  Instead, he was placed to undertake rebounding efforts in the second half.

Mazzulla considered this to be the right call, as he stated, “Yeah I mean obviously, probably didn’t play the efficient offensive game that he liked, but I thought his poise, you couldn’t tell that. That never got in the way of his defense and his physicality, and his rebounding, that’s the most important thing. I mean he’s going to score, he’s going to put us in position to be successful. But uh, you know, you got to answer the call defensively, physicality-wise. I thought he did that, especially in the rebounding in the second half.”

Jayson Tatum and the squad are carrying a bunch of expectations on their shoulders during the ongoing playoffs. After all, securing another championship title would allow the Celtics to record their first two-peat since 1969, and the first of both Tatum and Mazzulla. Therefore, the last thing the head coach would want is to go easy on his players, especially when they worked through the regular season to get to this post-season moment.

Jayson Tatum performed abysmally on the offensive side in the recent game. He recorded only 14 points by shooting 8-22 (36.4%) field goals, 1-8 (12.5%) 3-pointers, and 0-4 (0.0%) free throws. Despite this, as Mazzulla highlighted in his post-game remarks, Tatum contributed in other ways. Therefore, he does not want to restrict him, and he certainly does not want to go easy on him. Lol, good luck to Jayson Tatum from all of us.

The recent incident serves as just another example of the unconventional things Joe Mazzulla does as an NBA coach. He is known for often working out the best scenarios for his players in unusual ways. It is something that even baffles his players. Jayson Tatum would have willingly got up in the recent game, as it wasn’t the worst thing the coach has said to him during his Celtics tenure.

Joe Mazzulla once wanted Jayson Tatum to hit him for a day’s rest “When Travis Kelce ran into Andy Reid”

Back in late March, Jayson Tatum appeared on the ‘New Heights’ podcast, hosted by NFL legends Travis and Jason Kelce. The interview took place a year after Super Bowl LVIII. Along with the Kansas City Chiefs taking home the win, another viral moment that took place when Travis Kelce got into a heated conversation with Chiefs head coach Andy Reid. Even if you aren’t an NFL fan, the memes would have still made it to your social media. However, Joe Mazzulla used that moment as an inspiration to suggest a unique way to get Jayson Tatum an additional day of rest.

“Joe is crazy. We actually talked about you [Travis Kelce], we played Portland the other day and I ended up getting a technical foul when the game was pretty much over. Joe comes up to me after the game and asked if I can get four more to get a suspension, because if you get 16 in a season, you get suspended for a game. I told him I was done, and he said he’d rather have me come punch him in the face, saying he wants to fight,” said Tatum. “He said when Travis Kelce ran into Andy Reid, do that to me.”

Intentionally punch the coach to get suspended, and use that day to rest. Only Joe Mazzulla can suggest such things. After all, he is the same coach who got in trouble for playing defense on opposing players after the whistle. The same coach who once went after Chris Boucher after the 6-foot-9 Raptors big man bumped him while walking off the floor. As the Celtics progress through the playoffs, we can expect many such bizarre moments to keep occurring.