Joe Mazzulla speaks on Catholic podcast Godsplaining and reveals the many ways his faith inspires his life.
Before every Boston Celtics home game, head coach Joe Mazzulla takes a quiet, prayerful lap around the court. In his hand is a rosary made from the old parquet floor of the Boston Garden — a tangible link between the team’s storied past and his own spiritual journey.
“Every day I get to the Garden, I do my prayer circle and I use those rosary beads,” Mazzulla shared with Boston.com. “They give me a sense of connection to Celtics history and to my faith."
The beads were a gift from a team assistant who knew how deeply prayer anchors the 37-year-old coach before each tip-off. For Mazzulla, this ritual isn’t superstition — it’s a moment to recenter on Christ before stepping into the high-pressure world of professional basketball.
His quiet confidence sometimes shines through humor. When a reporter asked if he’d met Prince William and Princess Catherine during a Celtics game, Mazzulla grinned and replied, “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph? I’m only familiar with one royal family,” as shared by CNA.
That quick-witted answer revealed what drives him: faith first, fame second.
“Full Court Faith”
In his recent Godsplaining episode “Full Court Faith," Mazzulla sat down with Dominican friar Fr. Joseph-Anthony Kress to reflect on life, vocation, and identity. The conversation offered a rare glimpse behind the clipboard at a man whose coaching flows from contemplation.
He spoke of the challenge of finding one’s true identity in a profession measured by wins and losses. “My identity comes from my faith and my purpose,” he shared. “Coaching is just the platform where I get to live that out.”
Mazzulla views coaching as a vocation of service, explaining that he chose this path because others “poured into” him when he was young. Now, he says, it’s his turn to pour into his players — teaching not only defense and discipline, but integrity and compassion.
This reflection isn't unusual of the devout coach, as CNA previously shared:
“I’m not a basketball coach, I’m a person who shows up every day to help people.”
A home built on prayer
That same devotion shapes his family life. Mazzulla and his wife, Camai, keep a small home chapel where they begin and end each day in prayer — a habit that keeps their marriage, as he describes it, “anchored in gratitude and peace.”
In the podcast he also reveals how "everything starts and ends in his marriage." In fact he attributes his wife's faith in helping him find and grow his own faith. He also shares how his wife's faith and devotion to both Mazzulla and their children has impacted his professional career.
Not only does his family take an active part in supporting him, he explains how Camai has meant he's "even watching the game from her perspective." And that is exactly what a good spouse should do: encourage us to look beyond our own thoughts and needs.
Listening to the podcast, it's easy to see how he really does want to live his life through "the lens of Christ." So much so he looks to Christ for any of the queries that are in his head -- he actually goes as far as wondering what Jesus would do with Instagram!
Below you'll find the full 36-minute interview -- it's definitely worth listening to!
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