Charles Lee won a championship as the lead assistant on Joe Mazzulla’s staff with the Boston Celtics last season. When Lee left to become the coach of the Charlotte Hornets, Mazzulla informed Lee that he was now the “enemy” and shouldn’t expect to chat like they did when they were on the same side.
“I told Charles when he left, ‘I’m not talking to you during the season. I’m not waving to you at the national anthem. I’m just not doing that. You’re an enemy,'” Mazzulla told reporters Friday, via SB Nation’s Noa Dalzell. “So he breached NBA rules and came into the assistant coaches’ locker room and forced me to give him a hug. That can easily be a psychological tell that knocks you off your game. He knew what he was doing.”
If Mazzulla, who has shown his team clips of killer whales and hyenas on the hunt, was being less than 100% serious, he did an incredible job of keeping a straight face. Reporters laughed when he mentioned the “forced” hug, but he did not. When a reporter asked if he at least enjoyed the hug, Mazzulla deadpanned, “No.”
For context: Mazzulla brought up Lee because he’d been asked about his relationships with other NBA coaches if he’d formed more of them after winning a title. Mazzulla made it clear that, while he respects, studies and learns from his peers, he prefers to be “cordial” with them rather than “close” to other coaches.
“I reach out to a few after certain things, I’ve had different relationships with guys,” Mazzulla said. “So there’s a cordiality there, but it’s very important not to give away psychological tells, things that can lead to an opportunity to give away a psychological lead. So I just try to be cordial without giving away those psychological components.”
The Celtics played back-to-back games in Charlotte at the beginning of November. Despite the hug, Boston won both of them.
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