Joe Mazzulla led the Boston Celtics to an NBA championship during the 2023-24 season. The team looked like a juggernaut under his guidance, with a stacked starting five. However, Mazzulla isn’t exactly a typical head coach, and the stories about him are borderline unhinged at times.
Jayson Tatum has called Mazzulla crazy, and the coach’s recent comments about potentially fighting Jaylen Brown would certainly back that take. Derrick White is the latest Boston star to share a Mazzulla story, and this one sounds just as insane.
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Joe Mazzulla played MACHINE GUN sounds at practice 🤣
“He’s like ‘Play the music!’ and next thing you know you’re in a war zone” 💀 pic.twitter.com/TGp3w3TQ1D
— White Noise Podcast w/Derrick White (@whitenoisepod_) November 6, 2025
“So it was me and Payton, and we’re just going,” White recounted about a practice with the Celtics. “Then Joe is like, ‘Play the music.’ Next thing you know, it’s just machine guns going off. I’m like, ‘What is going on?’
“The entire time we did this drill, just the machine guns were going off nonstop, and that’s kind of how we started practice… He’s like ‘Play the music!’ and next thing you know, you’re in a war zone.”
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Boston Celtics guard Derrick White looks on before a game against the Houston Rockets. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images
With Tatum injured and Holiday and Porzingis gone, White and Brown are the only two starters left from the Celtics’ title-winning team. Boston has a 4-5 record to start the season, and no one expects much. However, with Mazzulla and his wild energy at the helm, no one can quite write them off either.
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