‘He made me a better coach’: Joe Mazzulla offers his gratitude to Jaylen Brown after his stunning trade to the 76ers
LAS VEGAS — The Celtics have shifted their focus from the Jaylen Brown trade and to a reshaped roster and the opportunities it will present for young players Hugo González, Baylor Scheierman and rookie Chris Cenac Jr.
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There is admitted uncertainty how the Celtics will move forward without last season’s leading scorer, and the franchise’s No. 10 all-time. But coach Joe Mazzulla thrives when his team is doubted, such as last season when Jayson Tatum spent three months rehabbing an Achilles injury and Brown stepped up to lead the Celtics to 56 wins.
The bitterness of blowing a 3-1 lead to the 76ers in the NBA playoffs, and having their numerous weaknesses exposed, prompted changes, and Mazzulla spoke Thursday for the first time since the trade, making sure to laud Brown for his contributions but also embracing the challenge of winning when critics say you won’t.
“I think the reaction is still processing it,” Mazzulla said. “Obviously when something like that happens, it’s not a black-and-white thing. It’s a ton of stuff that goes into it on and off the court. The part that I hope gets talked about more, and the part that we want to focus on the most, is really just the respect, the appreciation, and the gratitude for what he did for the Celtics for 10 years.
“He was a Celtic longer than I have been. He was there before me. He set the tone and started that and was part of special things and continued that and obviously one of the biggest reasons why we were able to be as successful as we have been. That is what we have to focus on more.”
Brad Stevens, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations, and majority governor Bill Chisholm spent 45 minutes on Monday trying to explain the reasoning behind the Brown trade and why he was sent to the rival 76ers. Mazzulla would not say how active he was in those trade discussions or whether he favored the deal, but, like Stevens and Chisholm, Mazzulla wanted to show Brown the appreciation he feels he deserves.
“There’s a feeling that goes into it, there’s an emotion that goes into it, there’s a processing pattern that goes into it,” Mazzulla said. “The quicker you can get into gratitude. He made me a better coach. I know that for a fact. The way he pushed me. The way he pushed himself. The way he pushed the locker room made me a better coach. That’s what you focus on.”
The 2026-27 Celtics will center around Jayson Tatum, with the newly acquired Paul George, Mitchell Robinson, and Mike Conley. There are considerable questions as to whether the Celtics can compete in the East. Mazzulla has never coached a team without Brown. The Celtics haven’t played a season in the last decade without Brown.
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His shadow could loom large, or George could respond with a bounce-back season and team with the likes of Payton Pritchard and Derrick White to give the Celtics a new look.
“That’s one of the big questions,” Mazzulla said. “Every time something like this happens, it’s how you’re going to replace [Brown]. You’re not going to. Not only what he did in his career, but what he did this year. You don’t replace that. There’s two sides. We’ve also brought in people. We have to have an understanding that we’re not asking anybody who comes back, whether it’s trade or free agency, to be anything of what he was. We’re not going to do that.
“They’ve got to be the best version of themselves.”
And as he did prior to last season when Tatum was recovering and expectations were low, Mazzulla promised the Celtics will chase the same championship goal. When Mazzulla uttered that last season, critics scoffed. But the Celtics won 56 games.
“As long as you’re the coach, and you end your season on a loss, you’re always going to have a challenge,” he said. “That’s the nature of sports in general. Only one team wins, 29 lose. When you end your season on a loss, there’s a challenge to how you’re going to come back and be better and try to end your season on a win. That’s what the No. 1 goal is. That will forever be the case.
“We have a different roster. We have a different identity. There’s been a clear identity over the last 10 years. Now that identity is a little bit different. The challenge lies in how we create that identity and how do we end our season on a win, which is really hard to do but that’s the challenge.”
Mazzulla admitted the Brown trade was a difficult decision for the organization. And the coach took responsibility for the meltdown in the Philadelphia series, admitting collectively the franchise has to improve to reach the next level and atone for the past two painful playoff eliminations.
“When you blow a 3-1 lead, that’s on everybody,” he said. “That’s on me. That’s on the coaching staff. That’s on the players. You have to look at all those things. You first have to have an appreciation for what we were able to do, and at the same time have an understanding that the way we ended wasn’t good enough. That starts with me and that goes to everybody.”
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