Celtics star Jayson Tatum's NSFW response to Joe Mazzulla after $314 million contract extension

The NBA offseason is the perfect time for players and coaches to unwind after a lengthy season. The Boston Celtics undoubtedly deserve that time off, as they played all the way into the middle of June in order to capture their 18th title in franchise history. The taste of championship glory hasn't satiated head coach Joe Mazzulla, though.

According to Celtics star Jayson Tatum, Mazzulla is already developing plays and preparing for the 2024-25 season, per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe.

“Joe was already trying to draw up s*** for next season,” Tatum said. “I was like, ‘Joe, f*** that. We just won the championship.'”

Mazzulla's competitive nature is well-documented. From showing his players videos of killer whales and UFC fighters as inspiration to taking to the court to contest shots during timeouts, the 36-year-old never seems to rest.

“He's a sicko,” guard Derrick White described in his postgame remarks following Game 4 of the 2024 NBA Finals.

The Rhode Island native's dedication to winning fueled the C's throughout the postseason and helped establish a clear level of trust between the coaching staff and the rest of the roster.

“I think Joe is a basketball genius,” White added. “So whatever he says, I'm going to try to just do it to my highest capabilities.”

What do the rest of the Celtics have planned for the summer?

Although Tatum laughed at the idea of drawing up plays multiple months before the season, he won't be resting much this summer.

He joined Team USA in Las Vegas for training camp on Monday ahead of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Tatum added an NBA championship to his resume in June and now has the opportunity to capture his second gold medal before turning 27. The five-time All-Star will be accompanied by fellow Celtic Jrue Holiday, who was also a part of America's gold-medal-winning squad during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Team Canada, featuring stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray, will travel to Sin City to face the United States in an exhibition match on Wednesday.

For the U.S., the real games begin on Sunday, July 28th. Team USA will square off with Serbia, led by three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, in group play. Three days later, the Americans will play South Sudan—the most recently founded team in FIBA.

Lastly, Team USA will take on Puerto Rico on Saturday, August 3rd. After those three matchups, Tatum and company will hopefully advance to the Olympic Quarterfinals on Tuesday, August 6th.

Tatum and Brown are the only Celtics headed to Paris at the moment, yet there were rumblings of White being added to the team in case of an injury. Celtics star and 2024 NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown also has a strong case as an Olympic fill-in.

Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis was hoping to make it to Paris this summer as well. However, he needed surgery this summer to heal a lower-body injury, which forced him to miss multiple international competitions. Porzingis' home country of Latvia needed just one more win to qualify for the Olympics without him, as it fell 94-69 to Brazil in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament Final.

No matter what the Celtics get up to in the offseason, they should nearly all be back next season. Tatum received a record-breaking supermax extension worth $314 million, White agreed to a $125.9 million extension, and Brown, Holiday, and Porzingis were all already under contract.

This maintenance of Boston's starting five should put the Green Team in a position to compete for another title. Banner no. 19 is clearly on Mazzulla's mind and while Tatum might not show it as much this early in the offseason, he feels similarly.

“Happy to be here for another five years, for the long haul … Looking forward to getting a couple more of these,” Tatum said with a smile while holding the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy on Saturday.