Jayson Tatum makes interesting admission about Joe Mazzulla
May 27, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) during the fourth quarter during game four of the eastern conference finals for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Jayson Tatum recently shared some interesting insight on Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla.
On Tuesday, Tatum was present during Celtics Media Day held at the Auerbach Center in Boston, Mass.
While speaking to reporters, Tatum said that he has stayed in close contact with Mazzulla throughout the offseason. The Celtics star also gave fans insight into how Mazzulla’s mind works.
“I talked to Joe a lot,” said Tatum, via The Athletic’s Jared Weiss. “Joe was probably the happiest person in the world that I didn’t win Finals MVP and I didn’t play in two of the games at the Olympics. That was odd. But if you know Joe, it makes sense.”
Tatum was arguably the most crucial part of the 2023-24 Celtics’ championship team. But it was Jaylen Brown who took home the NBA Finals MVP trophy after Boston beat the Dallas Mavericks in five games. Tatum’s lack of individual hardware became a minor talking point following the Celtics’ title run.
There was similar chatter about Tatum struggling and even being benched by Team USA head coach Steve Kerr during the Paris Olympics.
But Mazzulla sounds confident that the slights against Tatum throughout the offseason will keep him motivated for the Celtics’ title defense.
Mazzulla has shown himself to be quite the character whenever he’s not pacing the sidelines of a game. Tatum’s tidbit about the Celtics coach sounds right on line with his reputation.
