Why Joe Mazzulla Didn’t ‘Enjoy’ Offseason After Celtics’ Title

BOSTON — Joe Mazzulla reached the pinnacle of his profession in June at just 36 years old and in his second season as Celtics head coach.

Guiding the Celtics to the franchise’s 18th title was cause for celebration and many would have ridden that blissful wave throughout the entirety of the offseason. But not Mazzulla.

“I wouldn’t say I enjoyed the offseason, but I enjoyed the parade,” Mazzulla said Tuesday during the team’s media day at the Auerbach Center. “I thought the parade was a rather intense experience, which I loved and was a great opportunity to connect with the city.”

Following the parade, Mazzulla began prepping himself for a new challenge: leading the Celtics in a title defense.

Mazzulla said he spent time this summer studying the habits of winning and losing — he attended UFC 303, the US Open, a Boston Red Sox game and a New England Patriots practice — as he looked to get his team in the right mindset to repeat.

The offseason for Mazzulla was about trying to learn how to let go of the past, no matter how sweet winning a championship was for him. And now he has to teach that to the rest of the Celtics.

“I enjoyed some parts of it,” Mazzulla said. “I think attachment is something you have to be aware of. One of the challenges of this offseason was detaching from the past and having an understanding of if you’re attached to a success or a failure for too long, that can be really dangerous. The world tries to keep you attached to the past. The world tries to keep you attached to your latest success or your latest failure and that’s where people get stuck where they’re in is attachment.

“It was a balance of you can’t be attached to this past success — it would be the same as being attached to a past failure. So, how can we detach from that with the understanding of taking the DNA of the things that we need to do to try to go after greatness again? It’s just a battle of detachment versus attachment and I think that’s what we’re going to have to be working toward throughout the year.”