Being elevated from an assistant to the head coach of an NBA team is not just a matter of adjusting the pay rate and place in the team’s internal pecking order. With the status comes significant new responsibilities ranging from deciding who gets playing time and determining practice schedules to helping plan team travel and more.
Luckily for interim Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, he isn’t doing it alone.
“I’ve got a lot of great people around me that help with it,” explained Mazzulla ahead of the team’s preseason opener against the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday. “Whether it’s assistance with our sports science, whether it’s the training department.”
“Really, it’s just gathering information, asking a lot of questions, and with the players as well, at the end of the day, it’s about what they are comfortable with.”
Joe Mazzulla on preseason mentality;
We know what we’re playing for. It starts today.
— Cameron 🎃 Tabatabaie (@CTabatabaie) October 2, 2022
“I’ve tried to take in as much information from everybody in the building about what’s best,” he added.
With the first game of the Mazzulla era coming in just a few hours, we’ll get our first look at how the new interim head coach does when the stakes are low — but it will not be long until the games count, either.
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