Anyone unfamiliar with Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has certainly become more aware of one of the NBA’s strangest characters in the wake of Boston’s championship celebrations.
Mazzulla, likely the only head coach in the league who had to be told by his bosses to stop trying to block opposing player’s shots this year, has taken over the internet in the wake of the Celtics’ title celebrations. In addition to carrying the championship trophy around the city to various restaurants, Mazzulla went on an absolutely bonkers celebratory podcast tour that included him breaking down how he would plan to rob a bank, among other wild anecdotes.
Mazzulla has done it all, including coaching the Celtics to banner No. 18, on a meniscus he has apparently needed surgery on since tearing it in March during a loss to the Hawks, because of course he did. After all, this is a man who once tried to turn down health insurance while working in the G League because he “didn’t have time to get hurt.”
Well, he certainly put that mindset to the test during the Celtics’ championship parade, jumping both off the roof and out the window of the duck boat carrying him multiple times — again, on A TORN MENISCUS THAT WILL REQUIRE SURGERY — to celebrate with fans:
Joe Mazzulla jumped out the window of his duck boat, ran through the streets hyping everyone up, then somehow jumped back into the duck boat even on a torn meniscus pic.twitter.com/3MBSKZ5wGU
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) June 21, 2024
Mazzulla’s son even got in on the fun, showing he’s well on track to matching his father’s delightfully chaotic energy:
Perhaps fittingly, all this comes on a day the governor of Mazzulla’s native Rhode Island has officially dubbed “Joe Mazzulla Day.” That was obviously in the works before Friday, but after watching Joe Mazz at the parade, it would be hard to call the day anything else.