The NBA is no place for head coaches to rest on their laurels unless they also happen to be the architect of a championship dynasty. Even then, the room for error is surprisingly small in many cases.
This is even more true for first-year head coaches, both in the NBA and WNBA, as the Boston Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla and the Connecticut Sun’s Stephanie White can easily attest.
The status of new coach can test the person at the helm of a team in a number of ways, from their relationships with the players, front office and the officials to how they get on with the media, ensure they don’t miss small but important details, or juggle competing interests.
And that’s just naming a few examples — if you want a better view of what it’s like to become a team in the league that is the pinnacle of your sport, listen to what White and Mazzulla had to say about it in a recent interview put together by the Celtics to such an end.
Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ