The monumental beatdown Joe Mazzulla and his coaching staff handed the Celtics’ media corps on Tuesday quickly became a national news story.
Mazzulla said that was not his intention.
One day after he and his assistants waxed a group of Celtics reporters 57-4 in a surprise 12-minute pickup game at the Auerbach Center — and lowlights from the game appeared on the NBA’s official social media accounts, among other prominent outlets — Boston’s head coach said the game was meant as a bonding experience between the two sides.
At the end of his pregame news conference Wednesday night, Mazzulla thanked the media in an unprompted statement.
“Thanks for yesterday, too, guys,” he said before the Celtics’ preseason finale against the Toronto Raptors. “I obviously didn’t know it was going to turn into what it did, but I don’t think you realize how much it helped me see — one of the reasons there’s no stage up here today is because I felt like after yesterday, we all had our guard down and we were all in a competitive arena together. That meant a lot to lower everyone’s guard and bust (chops) and do all that stuff, so it was cool to see everybody in a natural environment. Sometimes, we’re coming from a competitive arena, and you’re not in a competitive arena. You’re just doing your job, and that’s where things get misinterpreted.
“But for all of us to be in the same arena, I think that says a lot. So yesterday was very, very important. It’ll be laughed at and joked about, but I think it means a lot more to humanize — we have too many interactions where it’s coach, and everyone’s doing their job. But we all got to see (John) Karalis shove Jack Simone; it’s no different than me getting pissed at Jack Simone’s question, right? It’s a competitive reaction to the thing that’s going on. So, if anything, we have to do it more, because it humanizes the competition, and I realize how much you guys really like the game and care about it.”
Nothing but respect from Joe following yesterday's media game 💪 pic.twitter.com/a9hvFhyzeJ
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) October 15, 2025
Mazzulla instructed his assistants — a group that included two ex-NBA players and several former high-level college players — not to take it easy on the overmatched media team, applying a full-court press for nearly the entire game and burying their opponents beneath a barrage of 3-pointers.
Afterward, Mazzulla, who was the starting point guard on a Final Four team at West Virginia, hung around to chat with reporters, then watched a follow-up game held between two teams of media members.
“I hope that it doesn’t drag on as something that was funny,” Mazzulla said. “It’s something that was serious, so I meant that. It was important that we did that yesterday, and we’ll do it again. So, thanks. I appreciate it.”
Originally Published: October 15, 2025 at 7:21 PM EDT