Joe Mazzulla knows Celtics have “target” on their back but wants to “see the red dot”

The award for this week’s biggest dagger of a comment goes to the Boston Celtics head coach, Joe Mazzulla.

This Wednesday, Mazzulla appeared on the Locked on Celtics Podcast, where he made it known that he knows the vibe going into the 2024/2025 NBA season, especially when you’re the reigning NBA Champions.

Mazzulla had a lot to discuss on the show, but his essential point is that he knows there is a “target on our back” when referring to how the rest of the league looks at him and his team.

The Celtic’s coach expanded on that by stating, “People are going to say that the target is on our back, but I hope it is right on our forehead in between our eyes. I hope I can see the red dot.”

We’re still about a month and a half away from tip-off on the NBA regular season and the start of the Celtics’ title defense, but Joe Mazzulla seems to have taken the temperature on how his team is being viewed.

To go back in time a few months for a second, Mazzulla has had this mindset since June when the Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks and hoisted the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy. Mazzulla stated on ESPN’s The Lowe Podcast that he had planned a repeat “since the horn went off” in the last game of the 2024 NBA Finals.

The C’s title defense begins on October 22nd against the New York Knicks at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. They’re poised to run it back again in 2025. It’s a foreseeable idea that they could with a roster that nearly mirrors the one they had in their 2023/2024 quest for the title.