Jazz Executive Takes Playful Jab at Joe Mazzulla After Celtics Win

There’s a lot of Boston Celtics influence within the Utah Jazz franchise these days. Danny Ainge is the CEO of Basketball Operations. Will Hardy is the head coach, and Austin Ainge is the President of Basketball Operations. However, a lesser-known fact is that Justin Mazzulla, brother of Celtics’ head coach Joe Mazzulla, is an assistant on Utah’s coaching staff.

When speaking to NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin during the Celtics’ 129-119 win over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday, Dec. 30, Austin Ainge poked fun at Joe Mazzulla, claiming Utah had the better brother.

“You know, we have Justin Mizzoula, Joe’s brother, on our coaching staff,” Ainge joked. “And Justin’s the better basketball player and could beat him in MMA. So I just had to get that on the air.”

Austin Ainge’s comments were clearly a joke. However, it shows the connection between the two franchises and that could lead to a future rivalry if the Jazz continue to develop and eventually become a contender in the Western Conference.

Of course, the Celtics would undoubtedly argue that they’re more than happy with the Mazzulla brother they’ve got. Boston’s head coach has led a retooling roster to a 20-12 record over the first 32 games, positioning the team as the third seed in the Eastern Conference.

Boston is three games behind the New York Knicks in second and 4.5 games back of the Detroit Pistons, who sit atop the Eastern Conference.

The Celtics will continue their current West Coast road trip with a matchup against the 8-25 Sacramento Kings on Thursday, Jan. 1.