Unpacking Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla’s Obsession With The Town

unpacking-celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla’s-obsession-with the-town

In the 19th century, when labor organizers fought for the eight-hour workday, they adopted the slogan, “Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, and eight hours for what you will.” Catchy! On behalf of Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, may we suggest: “Eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, and eight hours and 16 minutes for watching The Town.” 

As was first reported in January, Mazzulla screens the 2010 Ben Affleck crime drama The Town, which has a runtime of two hours and four minutes, four times a week. When asked how that relates to the Celtics, he said that it’s “just a Boston mindset.” 

If you need a refresher, The Town is about a gang of childhood friends and career criminals from Charlestown. The movie has it all: Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, and Blake Lively competing over who can pronounce the fewest r’s; bank heists undertaken by a bunch of guys in nun disguises; Jon Hamm playing a hardass FBI agent; the best getaway scene featuring the humble MBTA; and a genuinely moving exploration of whether you can ever truly escape the confines of the world that created you. Not exactly a movie easily mapped onto the NBA—but not not, either.

When news of his The Town obsession first emerged, Mazzulla was the interim head coach, following head coach Ime Udoka’s suspension for inappropriate behavior. In February, Mazzulla was permanently installed in the job—at which point he was seemingly free to fully unleash his The Town agenda onto the team. 

On May 14th, at the press conference following the team’s game seven win, he wore a sweatshirt emblazoned with the quote, “Whose car we gonna take?”

Copyright : https://www.gq.com/story/celtics-coach-joe-mazzulla-the-town

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