‘BOSTON — Joe Mazzulla took purpose Friday afternoon on the means Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are sometimes mentioned by the nationwide media.
In his first information convention since studying the Boston Celtics will face the Dallas Mavericks within the NBA Finals on Thursday, Mazzulla mentioned it’s “actually unfair” that Tatum and Brown get in contrast to one another when different duos across the league don’t obtain the identical kind of scrutiny.
“They’re two of the best teammates and gamers that you would have and it’s been an honor to teach each of them,” Mazzulla mentioned. “It doesn’t imply they should be the identical. So it’s bulls—. I really like each of them they usually deserve higher.”
Mazzulla didn’t specify examples of what bothered him concerning the protection of Tatum and Brown, however mentioned it irritated him that they’re all the time “lumped collectively.”
“I’m form of praying about how deep I need to get into that,” Mazzulla mentioned, “as a result of the entire thing that basically pisses me off is that it’s actually unfair to each of them. I feel it’s silly that individuals have to make use of these two guys’ names and use info that they don’t know to allow them to create clickbait in order that they will keep related. It’s actually unfair that these two get in contrast. They’re two fully totally different folks, two fully totally different gamers. They’re nice teammates, they love one another. They go about successful they usually go about their course of differently.”
Echoing a few of Mazzulla’s irritation, Leon Powe, who gained a title with the Celtics in 2008, lately advised The Athletic he’s been baffled by a few of the narratives surrounding the present workforce’s playoff run.
He thinks they need to be celebrated because the NBA’s most constant workforce all through the common season and the primary three rounds of the playoffs. He wonders why the dialog concerning the Celtics hasn’t all the time mirrored the workforce’s no-nonsense success.
“We beat all people in entrance of us,” Powe mentioned throughout a cellphone interview. “We lastly received to the NBA Finals once more. And now unexpectedly we don’t like one another. Impulsively we received an issue with one another. Impulsively we didn’t play no person. Impulsively, ‘Whose workforce is it?’… I feel the (common) season counts for one thing. Am I fallacious or proper? I feel the season counts. And so while you do this and you’ve got that regular degree of consistency, you must get respect simply off of that.”
In the course of the common season, the Celtics rattled off a 64-18 document and a league-best plus-11.7 internet score. They’ve ripped by way of their first three playoff opponents with a 12-2 document and a plus-10.8 internet score. The latter mark would rank second amongst all groups within the playoffs because the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers. Solely the 2017 Golden State Warriors, throughout Kevin Durant’s first season with the workforce, have topped that bar since Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant misplaced as soon as en path to their second NBA championship. Evaluating Boston’s march by way of the playoffs to previous runs gained’t be honest till the Celtics end their journey, however their resume to this point, each within the common season and postseason, would put them in elite firm.
Powe, who now works as a group ambassador for the Celtics, believes an excessive amount of of the dialog has strayed from the workforce’s achievements. Powe was amongst these upset when ESPN’s “Get Up” centered a latest section on the concept Tatum was not joyful after Brown gained the Japanese Convention finals MVP award.
Nah these guys should be bored lool that is getting outta hand😂😂😂 https://t.co/DgQ68Bi9qK
— Oshae Brissett (@Obrissy) Might 29, 2024
Powe mentioned he watched and rewatched the video of Tatum’s response and noticed nothing however pleasure from the All-NBA ahead.
“That dialog made me so mad,” Powe mentioned. “It ticked me off. … He was joyful he made it to the finals. You may learn what he was saying, the lip readers, he was joyful to get to the finals. He was speaking about, ‘Man, I’m within the finals,’ and he put his head down, then went again as much as smiling and by no means, form or type did I see a frown. I see him smiling. I see him joyful.”
Powe mentioned such reactions particularly trouble him as a result of the Celtics have embraced a team-first angle all season. He in contrast them in that method to his 2008 workforce, which gained the championship within the first season after the acquisitions of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Underneath then-coach Doc Rivers, that group preached the idea of “Ubuntu” — as Powe described it, the concept “I can’t be all I could be with out the following individual being all she or he could possibly be.” He sees the same mindset within the present workforce.
“We’ve quite a lot of guys that may go one-on-one each single play, and generally prior to now, we used to do this quite a bit,” Powe mentioned. “And we might get stagnant … the opposite workforce, they may guard us a bit of bit higher as a result of they may simply load up on one individual. They didn’t have to protect all people on the courtroom as a result of they knew one individual was gonna take the ball, dribble, dribble round, dribble round. They’d attempt to shoot, whoever it was. It could possibly be Tatum, it could possibly be Brown, it could possibly be anyone, after which all they should do is get that cease and get off and operating. However that was again then. Now we fought these demons, we removed these demons and now we developed with our teaching workers proper now.”
Powe believes Boston’s offensive course of has improved beneath the steerage of Mazzulla. Although some folks don’t like the best way the Celtics gravitate towards the 3-point arc, Powe mentioned they’ve dedicated to taking good photographs from there. He believes they’ve additionally completed a a lot better job making the most of mismatches, together with when Kristaps Porziņģis attracts a smaller defender within the low put up.
“We’ve been extra acutely aware of how we assault groups, been extra acutely aware of taking part in for each other,” Powe mentioned. “And that’s the entire thing about this complete season, man, that’s the great thing about it. And while you see a workforce like this evolve into one thing particular, can’t assist however admire it, however we nonetheless have those who’s some naysayers that don’t need to see us do good in any respect. However it’s OK, you may have a few of these, it’s simply the protection I’ve an issue with.”
That features the protection of Mazzulla.
“To get all people to purchase in is de facto unbelievable as a result of we received quite a lot of gamers on right here that may have huge egos, they will, however proper now he has them shopping for in,” Powe mentioned. “They don’t have these egos, they’re all for the workforce. And that’s the superb job that he did to me as a result of he received all people on the identical web page and saved all people grounded.”
For his half, Brown mentioned he believes the Celtics are nonetheless tied to previous failures when this 12 months’s squad is totally different from prior variations. After falling in need of All-NBA standing, he additionally mentioned he believes different gamers have been praised and anointed “who I really feel like are half as proficient as me on both aspect of the ball.”
Just lately, Powe believes the Celtics have been judged unfairly. He mentioned the dialogue of the workforce has been a “travesty.” He mentioned the Celtics deserve extra credit score after reaching the Japanese Convention finals in six of the final eight seasons.
“Once you obtain a feat like this after which they’ve that backlash — that negativity is overlaying the NBA proper now and it must cease,” Powe mentioned. “As a result of it’s not good for the sport. It’s not good for anyone. We don’t care, the gamers not tripping. … After we within the finals — they should put a bit of extra respect on our title and our gamers too, as a result of we did a hell of a job to this point. And the coaches did a hell of a job teaching this group of men.”
(Picture of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown: Nick Cammett / Getty Pictures)
