Joe Mazzulla was all business for Tuesday's game against the media.
Joe Mazzulla was all business for Tuesday's game against the media.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
I thought Joe Mazzulla was joking.
At the end of his press conference Tuesday, Mazzulla had something to say about the media pick-up game.
Usually, we play against each other. It’s an opportunity to experience what Celtics players experience almost every day, running up and down the floor at the Auerbach Center and getting a few shots up with championship banners hanging over our heads.
But this was not a normal Tuesday at work. Mazzulla had a different matchup in mind.
“I don’t want to break it to to you,” the Celtics coach said. “But, you’re not playing against each other. You’re playing against the coaches.”
Mazzulla looked around at us and walked off with a straight face. Not even a hint of a smirk. That should have told me that he was serious, but it seemed laughable that he would even think to do something like this.
Plus, it was a bit of a lopsided matchup.
Celtics assistant Amile Jefferson is a former McDonald’s All-American who played at Duke with Jayson Tatum. Maine Celtics coach Phil Pressey is a former NBA point guard. God Shammgod Jr. is the son of the legendary God Shammgod, the former Providence college star. In 2010, Mazzulla helped West Virginia reach its first Final Four since 1959.
It was a collection of former NBA players and Division-1 athletes in their thirties ... against agroup of sportswriters.
Needless to say, the results were about what you would expect.
Mazzulla, being the savvy coach/point guard that he is, knew that we couldn’t handle a full-court press.
Our media team had decent size size. I’m 6-6, Boston Sports Journal’s John Karalis is around my height. CLNS Media’s Bobby Manning is lanky and always plays with energy on the glass. The Athletic’s Jay King is also a good player, one of the best in our little Boston media bubble, because of his outside shooting ability.
Most humbling L I’ve ever taken in my life 😂 🙃 https://t.co/LFWW84ZRK9
— Khari A. Thompson (@_KhariThompson) October 14, 2025
But we were no match for the speed and length of the coaches. They swarmed us and jumped out to a 22-0 lead. It was like watching a pee wee team that couldn’t get the ball over half court. They made steal after steal, leading to easy looks down low and from 3. Mazzulla was leading the charge, hounding our guards and being vocal about how he wanted this game to be a shutout.
It almost happened. The coaches beat us 57-4, and our two baskets came through a mix of hustle and luck. Forbes contributor Bobby Krivitsky scored on a layup, and I scored on a putback off of a missed 3-pointer. That was all the offense we could muster.
Proof that I did not go scoreless … 😂. Now I have a TD at Gillette and a bucket at the Auerbach on my résumé 🙌🏾 https://t.co/GDsVOWHk5e
— Khari A. Thompson (@_KhariThompson) October 14, 2025
Usually, when a team is overmatched physically, the 3-point shot is a weapon that can keep things relatively competitive. But NBA range is quite a bit different from the 3-point lines at other gyms, and our shooters struggled to adjust. They missed all their shots from beyond the arc.
As a big man, there wasn’t even time to post up. I had to help try to break the press. We couldn’t even get the ball near our basket most of the time.
The funniest moment of the day was when we gathered at halfcourt after the game. I heard a voice from above the court yelling, “Does anyone want to do media?”
It was Jaylen Brown giving us a taste of our own medicine. He and Jayson Tatum stuck around to watch. We’ve all asked Brown tough questions after losses; he gleefully took the opportunity to show us what it felt like.
Fortunately, no one took it seriously enough to hold us accountable and actually answer questions. It would have been hard to describe what happened in the immediate aftermath of a loss like that.
Joe Mazzulla locking up @RealBobManning 🔒
-@CLNSMedia pic.twitter.com/djTb6HI2L5
— Celtics on CLNS (@CelticsCLNS) October 14, 2025
Mazzulla was a good sport. He shook everyone’s hand after the game. We played a media vs. media game afterwards and he hung around to watch. Our game came down to the wire, and my team won, 25-22.
Our opponents had the ball with 1.8 seconds remaining with a chance to tie, and Mazzulla pushed the refs to put an extra five seconds on the clock, giving them extra time to try to pull off some buzzer-beater magic. Our defense held up, though, and they weren’t able to get a shot off.
Brad Stevens made an appearance after the game, too. The Celtics really made our game feel like official. We had a scoreboard. There was a 24-second shot clock and referees.
And we officially got whooped by the coaches. It was to be expected. I watched a bunch of those guys play high-level basketball growing up. It was an honor to be able to say I scored.
One request for next time, Joe: If you’re going to pit us against your crew, at least give us a little bit of time to gameplan.
I want a rematch and some time to recruit. The media team really could have used a point guard and a skilled wing to help break that press. Too bad NBC Sports Boston’s Brian Scalabrine and Eddie House weren’t around.
Khari Thompson can be reached at khari.thompson@globe.com.