BRIGHTON, MA — Few organizations all through the world {of professional} sports activities boast a richer historical past than the Boston Celtics. From Invoice Russell to Larry Chicken to Paul Pierce, the legendary names that handed by means of the franchise helped construct what it’s at present.
And for a Celtics crew with extra expectations than ever, studying from the previous could also be an important a part of their season.
“I despatched an electronic mail out to all of the Celtic former gamers as a result of I felt prefer it’s essential that we share on this expertise collectively,” stated head coach Joe Mazzulla. “They began the custom, they saved it going, and now it’s our duty as a corporation to maintain it alive.”
Pierce was at Celtics follow on Wednesday. He bought some photographs up and spent a while with Jayson Tatum, assistant coach and former teammate Sam Cassell, in addition to others.
The Celtics legend was additionally a continuing presence within the media this summer time, from his exercises with Tatum to his journey to Colorado with Kevin Garnett, the place he bumped into Derrick White and Jaylen Brown.
Satch Sanders, Eddie Home, and Leon Powe had been within the constructing for follow on Tuesday, and it appears Mazzulla is making an attempt to make these appearances a daily incidence.
“If you don’t see them on a regular basis, you don’t get that connection to the previous,” Mazzulla defined. “And the one previous we now have is the banners alone. The previous must be the banners, but it surely must be the folks. So I believed it was extraordinarily essential that any and each Celtic is welcome to a follow or a recreation so we are able to construct that brotherhood of what we’re.”
Somewhat than treating the Celtics just like the gamers’ subsequent cease on their NBA journey, Mazzulla is emphasizing the significance of furthering the brotherhood of the group.
It’s extra than simply one other crew. One other jersey. One other constructing.
“I type of examine it to school,” stated Mazzulla. “When guys go to the NBA, they all the time return to their faculty to work out. You see that on a regular basis. So we must be coming again right here. So I admire him [Pierce] being right here. And increasing that to everybody, we simply should create that brotherhood. That setting.”
Having Pierce round must be a continuing reminder of the final time Boston reached the NBA’s mountaintop. Alongside Garnett, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo, Pierce introduced the Celtics their first championship in over 20 years. This Boston crew is seeking to discover that very same success.
That stated, there are potential detrimental negative effects that would current themselves in tandem with the variety of former gamers popping up. It might develop into extra of a distraction than an help.
“It’s humorous. So I stated this, it’s nobody’s fault on their very own, but it surely might have a detrimental impact if we don’t do it on a regular basis. As a result of then it’s like we’re making it concerning the previous and that one man.”
However Mazzulla hopes to keep away from that with consistency.
“If we normalize it, and there are folks round on a regular basis, and never simply at a Recreation 7, and never simply at a primary playoff recreation, then it turns into like we’re doing this collectively,” Mazzulla stated. “So I wished to interrupt that barrier of, like, every so often. And like on a regular basis, any time, whether or not it’s on the crew aircraft, crew dinner, we must always have that open setting.”
