When Celtics great Robert Parish watches this season’s edition of his former team, two things stand out to him:
One, that Joe Mazzulla is the perfect coach for Boston. And two, that this group actually might have benefited from having to play 60-plus games without its best player, the recently recovered Jayson Tatum.
“I think the two eras’ coaching philosophies, or whatever you want to call it, mirrors one another,” Parish said Wednesday, comparing the modern Celtics to the team with which he won three NBA championships in the 1980s. “They have the right coach in place, because that’s where it starts, with the coach. And the team has definitely taken on Joe’s personality: that toughness, grinding out on both ends of the court, take no prisoners. I like the fact that another area they mirror us in, they play hard, they play smart and they play together. And I like that.
“Unfortunately, Jayson went down, but – don’t take this the wrong way – I think it might have been a good thing because the Celtics right now got their defensive identity back. And that’s when they won the championship, when they understood the benefits and the rewards of playing defense. And that’s what this team is doing now. And I think that’s one of the main reasons why they are successful, other than taking on the coach’s personality. Because he don’t take no crap, and these Celtics don’t take no crap. So I like that about them.”
After a shaky start to the season on that side of the ball, the Celtics entered Wednesday’s game against the Golden State Warriors at TD Garden ranked fifth in the NBA in defensive rating and first in points allowed per game. Boston needed to lean more on its young, unproven wings while Tatum recovered from Achilles surgery, and those players (Baylor Scheierman, Hugo Gonzalez, Jordan Walsh) became a key part of the team’s relentless defensive identity.
Parish, who was back in town to promote his new memoir, “The Chief,” said Mazzulla reminds him of the “tough love” approach taken by former Celtics coach Bill Fitch, but with the “people skills” necessary to better connect with his roster.
“Because if he didn’t have the people skills, I don’t think his players would buy into his philosophy, his concepts, the way that they have,” the Hall of Fame center said. “So I definitely think Joe has people skills, because I think it’s very important to give those guys that don’t play a lot, give them some love, make them feel important, make them feel wanted, make them feel like they’re going to contribute at some point. So stay ready.
“It seems like these guys realize, and it feels that Joe subscribes to this philosophy: Don’t give me a reason not to play you. And those guys seem to stay ready, one through 13. Everybody comes in and contributes, and there’s no dropoff when the bench comes into the game. And I like and respect that.”
Parish met Mazzulla for the first time minutes later, shaking the coach’s hand as Mazzulla walked in for his pregame news conference.
“We always talk about this job wouldn’t be what it was if the people before us didn’t do what they did,” Mazzulla said. “And Robert Parish is at the top of that list with what he’s done as a player, what he’s done for the city, what he’s done for basketball. When you take this job and you have this job, you realize the gratitude and perspective that comes with it, and that’s our responsibility to move it forward in the way that they did. So really, just a ton of gratitude for him and his teammates and the people that have come before us to make this job and to make this city what it is.”
Today’s Tatum- and Jaylen Brown-led Celtics are trying to accomplish the same feat Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Parish pulled off in their prime. Those ’80s Celtics never won back-to-back championships, but they won three titles in six years from 1981 to ’86.
Unselfishness, Parish said, was the key to that legendary run.
“We wanted to win the championship, and we knew we wasn’t going to win championships playing like individuals,” Parish said. “We’ve got to do it from a team perspective. And it started with our leader, Larry. He checked his ego at the door. So if our leader can check his ego, clearly the rest of us could check our ego. And that’s where it starts with the leader.
“And I think that’s one thing I like about today’s Celtics. They win collectively. Not one person doing the work. They’re winning and being successful collectively. They’re doing it as a team. And I respect that.”