Celtics, Joe Mazzulla Want Being ‘Nasty’ To Define Season

We all know that the Boston Celtics have the talent to be successful, that's why they've consistently been among the favorites to win the 2024 NBA Finals both before and after trading for a pair of All-Stars.

Do they have the ability to overcome their recent history, though?

That's the question Boston still has to answer, and it got off to a solid start in Wednesday's season-opening victory over the New York Knicks. The Celtics got big contributions out of their new stars, while Jayson Tatum led the way in what admittedly was an ugly victory. It was the kind of performance that embodied the identity Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla wants his team to have, though.

"Humility. Mindset. Toughness. Passion. Togetherness. Just be nasty," Mazzulla said Wednesday, per Jay King of The Athletic. "(We have) an identity as a locker room, we have a shared vision, we have values and principles that we can pull from and fall back on and talk about consistently."

Mazzulla has come back to those themes regularly throughout the preseason, trying to hammer home the kind of team he expects the Celtics to be. Boston knows talent isn't enough, which is what makes establishing those traits so important.

"It's something where we just want to establish the culture and identity," Celtics center Luke Kornet told The Athletic. "That's something we came up with. And that was part of it too, just incorporating everybody into it and having an image of what we want to be by the end of the year."

The on-court product is going to be fun this season, but Boston's insistence on driving home culture and identity might be even more fun to watch. The Celtics' season won't really start until March, so enjoy watching them "be nasty" in the meantime.