The Boston Celtics have one of the best rosters in the NBA and it has seen them find a lot of success on the court. But one underrated aspect of the team is how head coach Joe Mazzulla gets all the stars to work together.

Mazzulla may still be young in terms of his NBA coaching experience but he has become one of the best in the business. His calmness during games allows the players to do what they do best and it has resulted in the team winning a title already.

The head coach is one of the stranger people in the league today but he is fueled by being great. His desire to win at the highest level is what makes him a good coach and he reflected on it all.

Mazzulla revealed that he modeled his coaching style and culture after legendary soccer coach Pep Guardiola. The Celtics head coach sat down in an interview to discuss everything.

“Obviously, nowhere near the manager that Pep is but we share a similar beginning,” Mazzulla said in interview with Men in Blazers. “He was coaching Barcelona’s B team, I was in Maine’s G League team, and they could have easily gone for a bigger name, but they go to this guy sitting on the back bench with no experience.

“It became really a roadmap to how I wanted to go about building a culture, a team, and you know, taking over greatness. You take a look at his tactical ability, his abilty to manage the best players, which I think is what separates coaches in any sport — that’s something that I thought I could really learn from.”

Guardiola is one of the best coaches in sports so Mazzulla learning from him is huge. Mazzulla has given credit to Guardiola for helping him develop as a head coach and it has translated to Boston winning a lot.

If the Celtics keep winning games, Mazzulla will earn more respect around the league. Guardiola is heavily respected across all sports so Mazzulla picking him as a role model is an incredible choice by the Boston coach.