Joe Mazzulla and Celtics coaches
Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
Joe Mazzulla played college basketball before pivoting to coaching, and he’s surrounded by assistants who had a similar journey before helping the Celtics turn into one of the best teams in the NBA. They got the chance to showcase their skills against some members of the media, and that pickup game did not go well for the people who make a living covering the team.
It’s no surprise that the vast majority of the people who currently serve as the head coach of an NBA team were accomplished players before they turned their attention to a different realm of basketball.
That includes Joe Mazzulla, who had a solid college career at the University of West Virginia before deciding to pick up a clipboard after he failed to find a home in the NBA after declaring for the draft in 2011.
The former point guard got his first head coaching gig with Fairmont State in 2017 before joining the Celtics as an assistant in 2019, and he found himself thrust into his first job as the head coach of an NBA team thanks to the unexpected promotion he got when Ime Udoka was fired before the start of the 2022-23 season.
That turned out to be a serendipitous development for everyone involved. Mazzulla currently boasts the highest winning percentage in NBA history thanks to the 184-62 record he’s compiled during his three seasons at the helm, and he led the Celtics to a championship during his second one.
He’s done so with the help of a coaching staff consisting of guys who had also notable playing careers, and they got the chance to showcase their skills during a game against some members of the media that ended up being an absolute bloodbath.
The Celtics coaching staff annihilated reporters who only scored four points in a pickup game against them
On Tuesday, media members who cover the Celtics arrived at the team’s practice facility under the impression they’d be competing against each other in a pickup game. However, they were treated to a twist when Mazzulla informed them they’d actually be facing off against him and his coaching staff.
We were supposed to have a media pickup game at the Celtics practice facility today, but we just got some news from Joe Mazzulla:
“You’re not playing against each other — you’re playing against the coaches.” pic.twitter.com/v7a8HtXuYA
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) October 14, 2025
Anyone who is remotely familiar with Mazzulla knows he’s the kind of guy who’d treat that contest like it was Game 7 of the NBA Finals, and there was little doubt he’d expect the same mentality from a group of guys that includes:
Former NBA player Phil Pressey
Former WVU player and NBA Draft pick DaSean Butler
Former Fairmont State star God Shammgod Jr.
Former Duke captain Amile Jefferson
Former Richmond player Tony Dobbins
Former Bucknell player D. J. MacLeay
None of the people on that list ever came close to reaching superstar status, but if you’ve ever played basketball against someone who was talented enough to be on the roster at a Division I program, you’re likely very aware that the reporters who went up against them never stood a chance.
Noa Dalzell of Celtics Blog was one of the unfortunate souls who learned that lesson the hard way, as she recounted what went down in a post where she noted the media members (some of whom also had some college basketball experience) were firmly outclassed in the five-on-five, full-court scrimmage that ended with Mazzulla and Co. walking away with the win to the tune of 57-4.
If you’re curious, there is a video of the game that began with the coaches going on a 28-0 run before Bobby Krivitisky of Forbes stopped the bleeding with a layup (Khari Thompson of Boston.com was the only other member of the team to score).
Ouch.