It didn’t take Lonnie Walker IV long to learn how intense his new head coach is.
Walker, who’s looking to turn his training camp tryout into a permanent Celtics roster spot, had a memorable interaction with Joe Mazzulla during Boston’s media day on Tuesday.
“Joe is one of the most interesting guys I’ve met,” Walker said Wednesday. “You don’t know where your conversation might take you. He kind of reminds me of my head coach back at high school. Yesterday, we had one of our first conversations.
“I love boxing, so I was like, ‘Did you see the Canelo (Alvarez) fight?’ He was like, ‘I don’t watch pillow fights.’ I was like, ‘OK, all right, there we are.'”
Mazzulla’s affinity for mixed martial arts is well-documented — he tore his meniscus during a jiu-jitsu session late last season — but Walker now knows that boxing doesn’t meet his threshold for entertainment.
On the court, though, Walker is excited to learn from the man who led the Celtics to an NBA championship in just his second season as head coach.
“He’s a great guy in a plethora of different aspects,” the 25-year-old wing said, “and I’m just fortunate to be given this time right now to really soak everything up and continue to learn and be a sponge and continue to grow as a player.”
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