During the 8 June 2024 interview, Boston Celtics Head Coach Joe Mazzulla touted his Christian faith as he was asked about the relevance of both head coaches in this year's NBA Finals being black.
Mazzulla, a 35-year-old Catholic, took questions from the media at a press conference Saturday as his team is competing against the Dallas Mavericks to bring home the NBA championship. Vince Goodwill of Yahoo Sports noted, "For the first time since 1975, this is the NBA Finals where you have two black head coaches."
"Given the plight, sometimes of black head coaches in the NBA, do you think this is a significant moment? Do you take pride in this? How do you view this or do you not see it at all?" Goodwill asked.
Mazzulla responded: "I wonder how many of those have been Christian coaches," perhaps implying that his identity in Christ is more important to him than his skin color.
The room went silent for several seconds before Mazzulla answered a completely different question.
Mazzulla's answer could also have been a reference to the fact that Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd — while half black and half Irish — is also Catholic. As The National Catholic Reporter notes, both coaches are graduates of Catholic high schools.
Mazzulla has been open about his Christian faith during his short tenure as the Celtics' head coach.
As his team clinched a spot in the NBA Finals a few weeks before the 8th June interview, another reporter reminded Mazzulla, "You've said that the NBA is all about timing," asking him, "Why is this the right time for this group?"
"It's just where God has us right now," he replied. "We're all where we're supposed to be and right now, everyone's mindset is on helping each other and winning."
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