Mazzulla responded passionately to the intense scrutiny both Tatum and Brown are facing. This originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston.
The Boston Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals on May 25 and will have 10 days of rest before Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals.
With so many minutes between actual games, it was inevitable that media commentators would bring up silly arguments and debates about the Celtics’ star duo, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. The craziest was probably ESPN’s get up! Earlier this week on the show, Tatum spoke about whether he was happy for Brown to win the Eastern Conference Finals MVP award, and he was visibly smiling and clapping for Brown throughout the trophy presentation.
Of course, there’s plenty of airtime left before the final, but some of these discussions are getting out of hand.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla was asked Friday about the intense scrutiny the Tatum-Brown duo faces and offered an impassioned defense of his two superstars.
“That’s a really good question. I’m trying to figure out how deep I want to dig into this. This whole thing is really upsetting and I think it’s really unfair to both of them,” Mazzulla said at a news conference. “I think it’s stupid to use these two names and information they don’t know to create clickbait and try to keep them trending. It’s really unfair to compare these two guys. They’re two completely different people, two completely different players. They’re great teammates and they love each other.”
“They have different paths to victory, they have different processes for victory. So why do we always have to lump them together? I think that’s unfair and people just use that to judge themselves. At the end of the day, it’s their relationship. They love each other and they encourage each other every day in practice. They communicate, but they each have different paths to victory. I think they get, how can I put it, unfairly compared to each other. They’re different and no other two guys in the league have to feel that way. It’s because of the foundation that they have. It’s because they’ve been so successful throughout their careers.”
“They’ve been successful at a very high level for so many years, and people need them to continue to be active. You can’t speculate. You have to get to know them as people before you talk about it. They’re great teammates, great players, and it’s been an honor to coach them both. It doesn’t mean they have to be the same, so that’s bullshit. I love them both and they deserve to be treated better.”
Mazzulla makes a lot of great points in this response, and he’s right that no other duo has received the same amount of criticism as Brown and Tatum. It’s incredible that they’ve had so much success so early in their careers.
While it’s true that Tatum and Brown are at a stage in their careers where they need to win championships, it’s surprising how much criticism the pair continues to receive, despite having a better resume than most other star duos in the league.
For Tatum and Brown, the best way to silence the critics would be to beat the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals and lead the Celtics to their 18th championship. That process begins Thursday, June 6, at TD Garden.
Watch Mazzulla’s full press conference below.
