The Joe Mazzulla list of greatest quotes is already a mile long. From his “nobody cares” when Derrick White congratulated him on a Coach of the Month award, to “I hope we see the red dot on our foreheads” when talking about starting the season as champions, Mazzulla is always good for a memorable line. He even just told Pardon My Take “violence is my love language,” which I’m sure will show up on shirts outside TD Garden before tomorrow’s Game 1 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
We can add another one to the list, courtesy of Jordan Walsh.
Apr 5, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla speaks with Boston Celtics center Neemias Queta (88) at a break during the first half against the Toronto Raptors at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Walsh’s Rollercoaster Season
He was explaining his tough journey over three seasons in the league, going from the G League, to starting, to not playing, and back into a key role for the Celtics. Just this season, he didn’t play in four of the Boston Celtics’ first eight games, but then played himself into 20 starts. He disappeared again after the All-Star break, and was benched for eight of 10 games in March.
Now he’s back, and expected to play a major role against the Sixers, taking a primary role in defending Tyrese Maxey.
“I think anything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” Walsh said before the team’s Saturday practice. “My first year, [Xavier Tillman] didn’t play most of the season and then comes in the finals, hits a big shot, plays. So stories like that, they kind of give me inspiration to know that it’s not over until it’s over. Kind of keep playing until the buzzer ends in a sense throughout the whole season.”
Mazzulla’s Blunt Truth
Walsh has struggled some with the ups and downs, but Mazzulla is never one to mince words with his guys.
“I got a comment from Joe one time, ‘you were dead in the water and now you’re back alive,'” Walsh said. “So that’s kind of heartbreaking, but also cool to hear at the same time. So I think it’s all part of the process.”
To say he was confused by it would be an understatement.
“I was like, ‘Huh? What do you mean?'” he said. “I kind of went and asked a bunch of people like, ‘What does he mean by this?’ I didn’t know how to take this, but it was funny. It was funny at the time, but we joke about it now, but it was funny and a little scary.”
Funny and a Little Scary
Funny and a little scary might be the best way to describe Mazzulla’s style of interacting with his players. This is the same guy who couldn’t resist fake pummeling Derrick White at a wrestling event and later said he wished he could have thrown White over the barrier to take the bit even further.
But as is often the case with Mazzulla, there is a method to his madness.
“It was early in the season, before I even started playing,” Walsh said. “I was like, ‘Dang, Joe, the year just started.’ But yeah, it was to set up my game, I guess. I don’t know. But then after that, I started and then had all these ups and downs, but I think it was all a part of the process that’s going to make me better for this upcoming season, postseason.”
The Method to the Madness
Mazzulla loves to use nature analogies for basketball because there are often strong parallels. Professional athletes live in a cold world of potentially being on top of the heap one day to out the door the next. Josh Minott spent a month being everything the Celtics wanted Walsh to be, but it wasn’t long before the herd left him behind. Walsh doesn’t want to suffer the same fate, so he has no choice but to embrace Mazzulla’s message.
“He’s a maniac, for sure,” Walsh said. “He’s an aggressive guy, and so he wants everybody to kind of like be on the same type of wave where it’s kind of like, always forcing your way, making things happen. And I guess he kind of leads us in that way of the mentality piece, keeping everybody grounded in a way that still helps everybody further the goal of winning.”
The Verdict: Tough Love That Works
Joe Mazzulla’s coaching style is not for everyone. He is blunt. He is aggressive. He is unapologetically himself.
But for players like Jordan Walsh, who have faced the ups and downs of the NBA, Mazzulla’s honesty is a lifeline. “You were dead in the water and now you’re back alive” is not a phrase that inspires warm and fuzzy feelings. It is a challenge. It is a wake-up call. It is a reminder that in the NBA, your spot is never secure.
Walsh heard the message. He accepted it. And now, he is back in the rotation, ready to defend Tyrese Maxey in the playoffs.
That is the Mazzulla effect. It is not always comfortable. But it is effective.
As Walsh said, “It was funny and a little scary.”
But it worked. And in the playoffs, that is all that matters.