Jayson Tatum shares wild story about Joe Mazzulla wanting to fight him during a Celtics game
Given his brash coaching style and sarcastic nature, it wouldn't be any shock if a number of Celtics players wanted to throw down with head coach Joe Mazzulla. The third-year Celtics coach is, to put it nicely, a lot to deal with.
According to Celtics star Jayson Tatum, the coach wouldn't mind getting into some fisticuffs with his players, either.
We've heard some strange stories about wildlife analogies during practice and seen Mazzullla have plenty terse exchanges with reporters after games. He even tore his meniscus from working out a little too hard after the Celtics had lost two straight last season.
But Tatum painted an even wilder picture of the coach during his appearance on the "New Heights" podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce.
"Joe is crazy," Tatum replied when asked what it's like to play for Mazzulla.
Crazy enough to fight his best player? Apparently so.
Why Joe Mazzulla wanted Jayson Tatum to fight him
Asked to expand on Mazzulla's craziness by the Kelce brothers, Tatum shared a pretty wild story from the team's current road trip. Tatum picked up his 12th technical foul of the year late in Sunday's win over the Portland Trail Blazers, putting him four away from a one-game suspension from the NBA. Mazzulla saw it as an opportunity to get his star some rest ahead of the playoffs.
"Joe was like, 'Yo, can you get four more so you can get suspended?' And I'm like, 'Joe, I think I'm done,'" relayed Tatum.
With Tatum unwilling to get more technicals by complaining/disagreeing with officials, Mazzullla took his plan in a much different direction. It sounds like the MMA afficionado wanted to enter the Octagon with his six-time All-Star.
"He was like, 'I would much rather you just come punch me. I want to fight. I would love to fight. When Travis Kelce ran into Andy Reid, do that to me,'" Tatum said, drawing a huge laugh from the Kelce brothers.
The wildest part of it all is Mazzulla probably wasn't kidding. This is the same coach who got in trouble for playing defense on opposing players after the whistle, and the same coach who once went after Chris Boucher after the 6-foot-9 Raptors big man bumped him while walking off the floor.
Hey, Mazzulla's got to use that jiu-jitsu training somewhere. Just don't use it on one of your best players right before the playoffs, please.
