Individual rebounding can change the direction of a game. And team rebounding can change the direction of a season. Acutely aware of how critical togetherness and team leadership is to success in the NBA, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has spent the 2026 NBA offseason cultivating that quality in his team, and while it may only be preseason games to date, there has yet to be a loss.
"It's something that is important to me and something that I try to give each team," said Mazzulla via CLNS Media after the Celtics' 125-120 win vs. the Philadelphia 76ers in overtime on Friday (Oct. 16) night. "I think a little bit of it is, as a staff, how can we get better at teaching that type of environment."
"I think sometimes as coaches, we always say something that we want, but we may not execute it the best way possible," added the Celtics head coach. "So I think you're always learning on how to make that better. I think it's one of the strengths of this locker room over the last few years, as it has been player-led."
"I think as staff we can do a better job of really pushing the envelope more on that, and creating even more empowerment and ownership, peer-to-peer relationship and accountability," said Mazzulla.
"So I think it's just a natural evolution of like, how can we make that better? How can we help the guys even more? How can we teach them to be better at that?"
So far, it seems to be working pretty well, whatever their answer may be.
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Togetherness, team leadership key to Boston Celtics success to Joe Mazzulla