It’s been a heck of a month for Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum. The All-NBA forward won his first NBA championship and signed a record-breaking $314 million contract extension two weeks later. Then he jumped on a plane to Las Vegas, where Team USA is practicing for the Paris Olympics. It was there Tatum shared a great story about head coach Joe Mazzulla’s absurd work ethic.
Speaking to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, Tatum said Mazzulla was trying to draw up plays for next season at the contract extension signing- funny enough on its own, given Mazzulla is less than one month removed from his first NBA title. He’s barely giving it time to breathe before moving on. But Tatum’s response makes it even better. “Joe was already trying to draw up s— for next season,”
Tatum told Himmelsbach. “I was like, ‘Joe, f— that. We just won the championship, like, enjoy it and relax. We’re not worried about any sets that you’re trying to put in right now.’ We had a good laugh about it, because he’s just so driven, which we all are, but it’s like, man, we worked so hard for this, we’ve got to enjoy it.”
The story does personify what the world has learned about Joe Mazzulla over the course of Boston’s championship run. The man is overly intense and every waking moment should be spent working to improve. It’s just how Mazzulla lives his life. That and avoiding all revolving doors.
Such a forceful personality needs some buffers like Tatum. NBA titles are not won in July. There’s no harm in taking a second to really let the title settle in. Mazzulla showed off championship-caliber coaching down the stretch of the Celtics’ season. Stories like this show off his championship-caliber work ethic. He’s always going at 110% because, as Mazzulla said during the team’s 2023 playoff run, there’s no such thing as too intense.
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