Since taking over as the head coach of the Boston Celtics, Joe Mazzulla has not done a lot of losing with the team. But now that the Celtics have moved on from Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet while bringing on Luka Garza, Anfernee Simons, Josh Minott, Hugo Gonzalez, and Chris Boucher, the Celtics may be looking at a lot more Ls this season than they have collected in recent campaigns.
And while that might get Boston out of the second apron and its associated penalties, that is little comfort to the hyper-competitive Mazzulla, who recently shared how he looks at wins and losses this season during a campaign that already is looking more loss-heavy than usual. Speaking on an episode of 98.5 The Sports Hub's "Zolak and Bertrand" show this week, Mazzulla said that "when we lose, I'm just as miserable -- I hate losing."
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"When we win, and I know I sucked as coach, or we didn't play well, I just laugh," he added, "because I'm like all this stuff will never get talked about. And I did this, this, and this, and it just goes by the wayside because we won -- and you just laugh."
Nov 16, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla reacts during the first half against the Los Angeles Clippers at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images"That's the beauty of living in a result-oriented world, trying to be by the process," continued Mazzulla. "But I would say I've left more upset. There's been more times when we've won that I left upset, and I think that's just how you have to be."
Giving an example, he added, "Last game, I wasn't totally happy with the way the second half went from a process standpoint ... by the time the horn goes off, whatever just happened doesn't even matter anymore -- because you have a practice the next day, you have a film session the next day. You're immediately like, 'What do we have to do to get better?'"
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Mazzulla explains why bad process in a Celtics win still bothers him
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