As his team battling the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla used his faith to take a unique approach in responding to a question from the media at a press conference on Saturday.
Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports asked Mazzulla about the fact that both he and Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd are black, noting that two black head coaches hadn’t faced each other in the finals since 1975.
“Given the plight sometimes of black head coaches in the NBA, do you think this is a significant moment?” Goodwill asked. “Do you take pride in this? How do you view this, or do you not see it at all?”
Mazzulla, a devout Catholic, opted to focus on his faith rather than his skin color.
“I wonder how many of those have been Christian coaches,” he replied.
Following this response, the press went silent for several moments as they were not prepared on how to answer the Boston coach.
Despite the positive reception that the response mostly got, Goodwill, who is also black, was less than enthusiastic when writing a follow-up article to his question.
“It isn’t Mazzulla’s fault the history is the history, but he should at least be aware of it,” the sports writer opined.
“Ignoring race in these matters isn’t progress, because it can infer that seeing someone as black means something negative,” he added, before injecting critical race theory into his analysis. “Colorblindness is impossible, and seeing someone’s blackness or the black experience as a positive could be the ultimate sign of progress.”
The comment by a coach at the top of his game echoed the recent commencement address by Kansas City Chiefs placekicker Harrison Butker, during which the consecutive Super Bowl-winning champ condemned abortion and encouraged women to pursue motherhood as their God-given role, roiling many feminists and other leftist critics.
This isn’t the first time Mazzulla has replied with an answer that demonstrates his religious outspokenness. In December of 2022, he was asked about the British Royal Family attending a Celtics game.
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph? I’m only familiar with one royal family.”
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla is asked how he felt about the royal family attending a game.
Coach: “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph?”
Reporter: “The Prince and Princess of Wales.”
Coach: “No, I only know one royal family. I don’t know too much about that one.”pic.twitter.com/jgroh6z1dB
— Denny Burk (@DennyBurk) June 9, 2024
The Celtics currently have a 2-0 lead on the Mavericks in the series. Game three is Wednesday night in Dallas.
