The Celtics will be facing sky-high expectations beginning on Tuesday night when they attempt to become the first team to repeat as NBA champions since 2018. Boston is well positioned to join that historic group by bringing back 13 of their 15 players from last year’s title team.
It will likely be a short window in which the Celtics can continue with this specific group due to a rising payroll that will lead to large penalties with the new NBA CBA. That reality may lead to more urgency on this group to maximize their current opportunity. However, Joe Mazzulla isn’t buying into that mindset ahead of the new campaign when it comes to the pressure he’s feeling to take advantage of this group.
“Zero. No pressure. We’re all going to be dead soon, and it really doesn’t matter anymore. So, zero pressure,” Joe Mazzulla declared. “You’re either going to win or you’re not. And when you win, you try to forget about it a week later, and when you lose, you try to forget about it a week later.
“It’s not pressure. It’s an opportunity. We have an opportunity here for the next few years, however long we’re together. I’ve said this in the past, we have an opportunity to carry the organization forward, to double down on the tradition and the history of what this organization has and what else would you expect than somebody expecting you to win all the time? I wouldn’t want someone expecting me to lose all the time. That would be debilitating. So we have an expectation to win. We have great character, great talent, and we just have to work to maximize that and try to rely on the players to do that.”
The Celtics players did well following Mazzulla’s mindset last year and appear to be embracing the looser mindset entering this season. Mazzulla tried to make clear that he’s trying to keep perspective for this group with what exactly their jobs are and how it relates to the big picture of their lives.
“We don’t have pressure,” Mazzulla explained. “If we lose, we’re not losing our life. We’re not surgeons. We’re not in the military. We coach basketball for a living. No one’s putting more pressure and ‘expectations’ than we are on ourselves. We have a responsibility.”
The Celtics open up their season on Tuesday night at TD Garden against the New York Knicks.
