Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla went viral last week for jumping off the sideline to contest a long-range shot from Suns forward Royce O’Neale after the whistle in the second half of an eventual Boston win.
Mazzulla stood by the decision post-game, explaining he instructs his assistants to do the same and didn’t want O’Neale, who had yet to make a field goal, to gain any confidence from a potential make. The young coach also reminded reporters he’d done it before.
One week later, Mazzulla said he won’t be leaving his feet anymore.
During a Wednesday appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak & Bertrand,” Mazzulla revealed he will no longer be contesting shots from the bench, and neither will his assistants.
“I’ve been told I can’t do that anymore,” Mazzulla said.
Who told him that?
“I can’t say,” he replied. “All I know is we won’t be doing it anymore.”
The 35-year-old coach insisted it was part of reinforcing the Celtics’ defensive mentality of making opponents uneasy.
“We want our opponents to constantly be uncomfortable,” he said. “We don’t want to give them an edge at any point. So I appreciate the players allowing us to be ourselves, and I appreciate the staff buying into that.”
Mazzulla’s viral moment drew outside criticism, including from TNT analyst and Pro Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley. Mazzulla brushed off such criticism Wednesday.
“I hope we piss everybody off,” he told 98.5.
After his viral moment, Mazzulla doubled-down on the decision and said he didn’t care about the optics of a coach leaping off the bench. He also claimed the play wasn’t illegal.
“It’s about just setting the tone. It’s that. One of my biggest pet peeves is just thinking that a guy’s just going to get a free shot, and it’s just not the way it works,” he said. “And if we’re going to hold our team to the standard, then hold the staff to the same thing. So there’s been times where we’ve missed it and I’ve held the staff accountable to it, and you’ve got to do the best job you can of not doing it.”
The Celtics entered Wednesday’s tip-off against Milwaukee with a 110.2 defensive rating, second-best in the league.