How hard is it to name the Boston Celtics’ head coach? Well, evidently it’s pretty hard.
At least this proved to be the case for a select few NBA fans in attendance at Vivint Arena during All-Star Weekend.
One NBA reporter took it upon himself to put a few self-proclaimed NBA fans to the test. However, before questioning those scattered around the arena in Utah, Andrew Schlecht of The Athletic first asked All-Star head coach Joe Mazzulla for a rough estimate of the percentage of fans who’d be able to name him from a picture.
“Thirty (percent) maybe,” Mazzulla said, per video from Schlecht.
Well, little did Mazzulla know, his estimation couldn’t be further from reality. Apparently, not many fans outside of Boston know the head coach of the team with the best record in the NBA through 59 games. In fact, the shot-in-the-dark guesses were rather blasphemous.
Guesses in identifying Mazzulla ranged from George Hill (somewhat respectable) to New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton (insanely bizarre). One fan guessed ex-NBA player Carlos Boozer, while another guessed Dell Curry, the father of Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry.
While the venture to finding just a single person who could recognize Mazzulla’s face proved to be a daunting task, there was one individual who was able to almost do what appeared to be the impossible. But had it not been for the mispronunciation of calling Mazzulla, “Mazzalla,” then this experiment would’ve provided some glimmer of hope.
Perhaps leading the Celtics to an NBA Finals victory at the end of the season would do the trick and give Mazzulla just the right amount of street credibility by next season. For now, Mazzulla and the Celtics will stick by trying to remain atop the NBA with 23 scheduled contests remaining in the regular season.
