As Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown helped turn the Celtics into an Eastern Conference power the last eight years, there were lingering questions about whether the duo was talented enough to lead Boston to the top.
Then last season, the Celtics accomplished their ultimate goal by winning 64 regular-season games and rolling through the playoffs en route to the franchise’s first championship since 2008.
But coach Joe Mazzulla said before Friday’s loss to the Kings that he never expected criticism of the two All-Stars to vanish.
“I think the most important thing is to just maintain a level of perspective that regardless of what you do, there’s always going to be good and bad to it,” Mazzulla said. “And if you just live in the space of, you do what you do, that’s kind of how you have to go about it.”
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Mazzulla said he wanted both players to have proper perspective, so at the start of this season, he showed them an example of a star player whose career turned into a roller coaster of praise and criticism.
“I gave them a timeline of, like, here’s what was being said about them in the beginning, here’s what was said about them in the middle, here’s what was being said about them at the end,” Mazzulla said. “And it was comical how people kept bouncing back and forth with their opinions. But you kind of just shed perspective, because every player has gone through something. If you want to be great, you’re going to go through that. So to maintain a level of perspective on that is the most important thing.”
During an appearance on Gilbert Arenas’s podcast last week, former NBA guard Brandon Jennings was critical of Tatum and asked if he is “the softest Boston Celtics superstar ever.” Tatum acknowledged that dig by posting a similar caption with a series of Instagram photos.
“I think what they think of themselves, what I think of them, what the team thinks, what the people who are closest to them think [matters],” Mazzulla said. “But if somebody came out and said he was the toughest of all time, that could be just as detrimental if you decide to believe that and don’t use it to your advantage. So just don’t put too much weight in the praise or the criticism, because at the end of the day it’s fleeting.”
Doug Christie was named the Kings’ interim head coach following Mike Brown’s firing on Dec. 27. Christie is 6-1 after Friday’s 17-point victory.
Mazzulla went through a similar experience when he was handed the reins following Ime Udoka’s suspension and subsequent dismissal. He was asked what advice he received that was helpful during his journey, and whether it might be helpful to Christie.
“I would say more than advice, even when I was an interim, I felt like I had the full support and a true opportunity from the ownership and front office,” Mazzulla said. “So I think more than advice, you’re really just looking for a chance. Even from the beginning of the interim period, into the All-Star break, I felt like I was given a fair shot. I felt like I was given the right environment, everything I needed to be as successful as possible. That was from ownership, it was from Brad [Stevens], it was from the staff and it was from the players.
“So I think advice wavers. The worst advice I got, and I don’t like when people say is, ‘Just be yourself.’ No one really wants that. But what you do ask for is a chance. You ask for an opportunity, so I was always grateful that the Celtics gave me a chance from Day 1.”
