During the 2022-23 season, there were times when the Boston Celtics looked like the most dominant team in the league by virtue of their two-way excellence. But there were also games where the Celtics looked disjointed, where it seemed as though Jayson Tatum and company failed to prepare in an acceptable manner for a specific game. For example, the Celtics fell flat to the rebuilding Houston Rockets and were on the receiving end of a 28-point comeback loss from the Brooklyn Nets last season.

But now, with a full offseason with Joe Mazzulla as the team's full-time head coach (shedding his interim status after a tumultuous offseason last year marred by the Ime Udoka issue), it seems like the Celtics coaching staff is focusing on instilling a much hard-working mentality within the roster so they could avoid being complacent as the 2023-24 season goes by.

In fact, Jayson Tatum is already feeling the burn of the Celtics' increased practice intensity during training camp ahead of a campaign in which many believe they are the favorites to win the 2024 NBA championship.

“Practice has been hard as shit, I ain't gonna lie. Two-a-days,” Tatum said, per Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.

As the old adage goes, practice makes permanent (not perfect), so it's imperative for the Celtics to be building good habits so they won't be susceptible to playing down to the competition and just bringing out their A-game with their backs against the wall. This was a weakness for the Celtics last year, and Joe Mazzulla is taking no chances of that phenomenon repeating.

Adding Jrue Holiday to this environment only serves to make Jayson Tatum and the Celtics' training sessions that much more challenging, given Holiday's work ethic and annoying defensive workrate that should help bring out the best in Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

At the end of the day, the Celtics recognize that how hard they work in practice will manifest itself in how hard they work during games. And Joe Mazzulla is doing his best to ensure that his team will have that level of consistency throughout the year. Now, all Tatum and the rest of the Celtics roster have to do is to hold up their end of the bargain and relish these training sessions, no matter how difficult they have been.