Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla’s Latest ‘Psycho’ Quote Gives Peek Into His Mindset

Joe Mazzulla is not your average NBA coach. From admitting that he watches “The Town” daily to avoiding revolving doors to avoid becoming a “sitting duck,” the Boston Celtics head coach certainly has a unique way of looking at things and relaying his message to his players, the media and the fans.

On the latest episode of NESN’s “Hold My Banner,” George Balekji and Ountae Campbell discuss the coach’s latest quote about Boston getting ready to defend the NBA championship in the 2024-25 season.

The phrase “Defending a title” is a very passive-aggressive term. If you look at the animal kingdom, some of the strongest animals don’t defend; they’re the most aggressive, and they attack the most.

“This is the psycho that is Joe Mazzulla,” Balekji said. “Giving us a peak behind the blinds, and he’s definitely a psycho behind the scenes. But I think he says crazy stuff like this to his team, to (Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown).”

Balekji continued: “Stuff like this must resonate (…) up and down in that locker room because I assume he’s saying the same things to them, and we laugh at it. They probably laughed at first, and he kept going, and he must have just drilled this mindset into them. I love this quote. I think it’s hilarious. Joe Mazzulla, the psycho, figured out how to use timeouts. Now, he’s figuring out how to use quotes.”

You can hear more of Balekji’s take on “Psycho Joe ” by listening to the latest episode on YouTube and Spotify.