Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla is typically perceived as being stoic, but rest assured, there is a savage side simmering within him. He made sure to unleash it on Tuesday, at the expense of 2008 champion and current ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins.
Before the C's defeated the Indiana Pacers, 129-124, to improve to an NBA-leading 37-11 on the season, the coach decided to have some impromptu fun.
Joe Mazzulla fires back at former Celtics player Kendrick Perkins
“Joe Mazzulla came to the podium sat down, and immediately listed the injuries (Al Horford and Luke Kornet were both sidelined),” Justin Turpin of WEEI recounted on X. “He was jokingly asked by a reporter for a doctor’s opinion on the injuries, to which Mazzulla responded, ‘I'm a bird brain, you know I can't do that.' Savage. Shot right back at Perk.”
The remark is in response to comments Perkins made earlier in the month on NBA Today. He explained how there are two versions of Mazzulla that exist on the Celtics sidelines. The first one emphasizes a 3-point heavy strategy, and looks brilliant when the shots are falling. The second one, according to the retired center, does not contain an abundance of intelligence.
“You wonder, if you take his brain out and you put it in a bird, the bird is gonna start flying backwards,” Kendrick Perkins said on Jan. 20. Boston shot 47 percent from 3-point range in their win over the Pacers, with Jayson Tatum and Derrick White knocking down four each and Jrue Holiday going a perfect 3-of-3. Based on those numbers, the sky should be free of any misdirected birds.
The Celtics' propensity to live and die behind the 3-point line (most attempts in NBA, fifth in percentage) has hurt them in the past, with Mazzulla being particularly criticized for pushing the philosophy in last year's playoffs. If the team can finally go all the way in 2024, however, fans are unlikely to care what's inside the young coach's cranium.
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