The Boston Celtics are scheduled to face the Toronto Raptors in their 14th game of the young season on Saturday. The Celtics are 10-3 and will be looking for their 11th win of the season.

The Celtics are arguably the best team in the league so far, and that’s no surprise. They are the talented defending champions, led by their third-year head coach, Joe Mazzulla.

Mazzulla may be one of the youngest head coaches in the league, but he’s also one of the best. He knows what it takes to be the best, and that may require him to not be too friendly with his fellow NBA coaches, at least during the season.

In a recent media interview, he explained why he was annoyed with one of his former assistants, Charles Lee, when Mazzulla claimed that Lee might have tried to gain a competitive advantage over him when the Hornets played the Celtics over early this month.

“I told Charles when he left, ‘I’m not talking to you during the season. I don’t salute you during the national anthem. I don’t do that. You are now an enemy'”, Mazzulla said journalists.

“So, he broke NBA rules and came into the assistant coach’s locker room and forced me to give him a hug. That could easily be a psychological sign that you’re losing your competitive game. So , he knew what he was doing.

Mazzulla also explained why he isolates himself from other coaches in the league, not just his former assistant.

“I wouldn’t say close, but cordial,” Mazzulla said when asked if he has become closer with other head coaches since being promoted during the 2022-23 season. “I’m contacting a few (coaches). I’ve had different relationships with guys. So there’s a cordiality there.

“But it’s very important not to disclose psychological clues or things that could lead to an opportunity to reveal a psychological lead. So, I’m just trying to be cordial without revealing these psychological elements.

Mazzulla is very unorthodox in how he approaches the game and speaks to reporters.

However, that won’t stop him from being himself. He doesn’t care what others think of him as long as he continues to win matches; that’s all that matters to him, to the players and to the fans.

Mazzulla may be strange, but championships help people forget him.

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