"Killers whales don't do it on their own" - Sam Hauser reveals how Joe Mazzulla used his favorite animal's trait to fuel Celtics' title run
Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla used unique ways to motivate his team during their NBA championship run last season. In addition to using UFC fights to give his players the advantage, Mazzulla also reportedly used his favorite anima, the killer whale, to fuel the Celtics.
On the latest episode of "The Green Light" podcast with Chris Long, Celtics sharpshooter Sam Hauser was asked about his coach's strangest tactic of the season. Hauser shared that Mazzulla once pulled out a video of killer whales hunting its prey in the ocean.
"Strangest one? There's a lot of them. The one I told people about before is, so his favorite animal is an orca whale or killer whale. So he pulled up this clip from National Geographic and it's these three orca whales hunting this seal. They kind of pop their head out of the water and check out where this seal is at and it's on this isolated piece of ice in the middle of the ocean," Hauser said.
The 26-year-old swingman added:
"They're kind of scoping it out and then they all attack this seal and kill it. His like message was, 'You know killer whales don't do it on their own. They wait for the others to attack their prey before they kill it. And that's what we got to do this year is do it together and nobody can do it on their own."
Sam Hauser also mentioned that about 75% of the players accept Joe Mazzulla's unique videos, while others roll their eyes at some of them. But nevertheless, it has been effective since the Boston Celtics lifted their 18th NBA championship last month.
In addition to UFC fights and seal-killing whales, Mazzulla also uses movie clips and lion attack videos as further fuel for his players.
Jayson Tatum shares hilarious Joe Mazzulla story following championship win
The Boston Celtics rewarded Jayson Tatum with a record-breaking five-year, $314 million extension after helping the franchise win their 18th NBA championship. Tatum savored his first title plus his new contract before heading to Team USA's training camp for the Paris Olympics.
In an interview with Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, Tatum shared a hilarious story about Joe Mazzulla trying to get him ready for next season less than a month after winning the championship.
"Joe was already trying to draw up sh*t for next season. I was like, 'Joe, f*ck that. We just won the championship, like, enjoy it and relax. We're not worried about any sets that you're trying to put in right now.' We had a good laugh about it because he's just so driven, which we all are, but it's like, 'Man, we worked so hard for this. We've got to enjoy it,'" Tatum said.