Perhaps Joe Mazzulla simply needed amusing.
Perhaps he needed to embarrass us as punishment for asking the identical annoying postgame questions for the final three years.
Perhaps he needed to offer some post-practice leisure for the massive group of gamers — together with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown — who have been watching from the lounge that overlooks the Auerbach Middle’s two courts.
No matter his purpose, Mazzulla selected to place his personal diabolical spin on the Celtics’ preseason media recreation Tuesday afternoon. Slightly than dividing the collaborating media members into groups and having them play towards one another — because the C’s and different Boston professional groups have achieved previously — Mazzulla turned the scrimmage right into a showdown between the Celtics media corps and the Celtics teaching workers.
“I don’t wish to break it to you, however you’re not taking part in towards one another,” the top coach revealed, about 90 minutes earlier than tipoff, as he wrapped up an in any other case unremarkable courtside information convention. “You’re taking part in towards the coaches.”
These coaches included Mazzulla, the previous start line guard on a West Virginia group that reached the Closing 4. And Da’Sean Butler, his teammate on that Mountaineers squad. And Amile Jefferson, who performed with Tatum at Duke and later frolicked with the Orlando Magic. And ex-Celtics guard Phil Pressey. And DJ MacLeay, who performed 110 video games at Bucknell and stands 6-foot-7. And Tony Dobbins, who had a protracted profession abroad after taking part in at Virginia Tech and Richmond. And God Shammgod Jr., who’s lower than a decade faraway from a standout profession at Fairmont State.
All of these guys are of their mid-40s or youthful. Most are of their 30s, together with 37-year-old Mazzulla, the NBA’s youngest lively head coach. When you put the Celtics’ workers up towards any of its counterparts across the league, I’d like its probabilities in a pickup recreation.
On expertise, expertise and athleticism alone, that group might have sleepwalked its solution to victory over a media aspect that … effectively, lacked all three of these issues. However they didn’t take it straightforward on the oldsters who’re paid to put in writing and discuss basketball, not play it. (Sadly, there have been no players-turned-analysts, a la Brian Scalabrine or Eddie Home, readily available to stage the taking part in subject a bit.)
At Mazzulla’s fixed urging, the coaches performed with unrelenting depth, particularly on the defensive finish. They pressed full-court for the whole recreation. They trapped. Mazzulla yelled out calls, scrapped for rebounds and celebrated turnovers — and there have been so, so many turnovers.
Most of Workforce Media’s “possessions” lasted about three seconds. What number of authentic scoring probabilities have been there? Perhaps 10, tops. Even fewer pictures that got here remotely near discovering the online. The variety of made baskets by media members was simpler to recall: a grand whole of two. There was a transition layup by Bobby Krivitsky of Hardwood Houdini and a putback by Boston.com’s Khari Thompson. That was all.
If nothing else, it was an awfully up-close have a look at the hyper-aggressive observe tempo the Celtics have been hyping up for the reason that begin of coaching camp. Fortunately, no reporters got here away with Payton Pritchard-esque neck wounds.
On the different finish, Mazzulla and his lieutenants simply discovered mismatches down low and wide-open seems to be from three without having to run any type of offensive system. Shammgod was particularly deadly from outdoors, draining back-to-back 3-pointers at one level that made it 28-0 lower than six minutes in. Pressey additionally buried a number of. The 6-foot-9 Jefferson threw down a number of dunks. Mazzulla stored pushing, pushing, pushing.
The lead reached 35 factors. Then 40. Then 50.
Lastly, towards a totally gassed media protection, Shammgod acquired a cross simply inside halfcourt and launched a high-arcing emblem three that swished by way of as time expired.
Celtics group reporter Taylor Snow captured a video of that game-ending buzzer-beater, adopted by a gradual pan over to the scoreboard. The ultimate rating: Coaches 57, Media 4. In a recreation that, mercifully, solely lasted 12 minutes.
It was that unhealthy, and truthfully, it might have been worse.
Celtics Coaches vs. Celtics Media
(anticipate the ultimate rating) pic.twitter.com/q5SeqH0jVu
— Taylor Snow (@taylorcsnow) October 14, 2025
If public ridicule was Mazzulla’s objective, he bought his want. As of early Wednesday morning, that video had been considered greater than 3.5 million instances on X.
The Celtics’ gamers appeared to take pleasure in themselves, too. Because the reporters gathered for a postgame huddle, a smiling Brown known as down from above, asking which of us “need(ed) to do media” — player-speak for who would volunteer to come back to the rostrum and reply questions on our abysmal efficiency. Luckily, no such press convention occurred.
After the 57-4 beatdown, the Celtics held a authentic, reporters-vs.-reporters media recreation (each have been sponsored by the Jr. Celtics Academy), and Mazzulla watched the entire thing from the sideline, shouting occasional commentary and tweaking the clock late to engineer a extra thrilling ending. That matchup was much more aggressive, with Workforce White edging Workforce Inexperienced 25-22.
Let’s skip the undercard subsequent 12 months.
