After Jaylen Brown’s night ended early thanks to a hasty ejection by the officials, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla offered a coy reference that actually made some sense.
NBC had a highly anticipated matchup between the Celtics and the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday night. Unfortunately, the game was marred by the officials, with Brown getting ejected in the second quarter of Boston’s 125-116 loss to the Spurs after picking up successive technical fouls.
Jaylen Brown receives two technical fouls in quick succession after arguing with the refs over a call and is ejected from the game. pic.twitter.com/XlvlABCMba
— NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) March 11, 2026
The first technical came after Brown thought he was shoved out of bounds, and when he argued the no-call, crew chief Tyler Ford quickly teed the Celtics star up. Barely 10 seconds later, he received his second technical, but it didn’t come from Ford, instead it was third official Suyash Mehta who essentially ejected Brown from the game.
Brown was incensed before being escorted off the court by Celtics coaches and security. And after the game, Mazzulla defended his star. When asked about the ejection, Mazzulla used a very unique analogy to take a shot at Ford.
Classic Joe Mazzulla when asked about Jaylen Brown’s ejection and that crew chief Tyler Ford did not assess the second technical to Brown, instead it was Suyash Mehta. #Celtics #Spurs. pic.twitter.com/MeSnIEhIGf
— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) March 11, 2026
“I just give a ton of credit to my high school principal. He had the balls to throw a student out. He didn’t leave it to the hall monitor,” Mazzulla answered.
When asked a follow-up question about the incident that led to Brown’s ejection, Mazzulla simply said, “He was a hell of a principal.”
In this reference, Ford was clearly the principal. But Ford seemingly didn’t have the balls that Mazzulla’s principal did, because instead of ejecting Brown himself, he left Mehta, the hall monitor, to do his dirty work.
Mazzulla might be the most interesting NBA head coach when it comes to press conferences and speaking to the media, although sometimes it’s hard to decipher his responses. But his chosen analogy Tuesday night was clear.