It took Bill Chisholm less than a week to be introduced to the Joe Mazzulla Experience.
An investor group led by Chisholm first agreed to purchase the Boston Celtics on March 20. Four days later, Chisholm and his wife Kimberly paid a visit to Golden 1 Center in Sacramento to watch the Celtics take on the Kings.
That’s where Chisholm first met Mazzulla — who lived up to his reputation as being incredibly locked in at all times.
Chisholm detailed his first meeting with Chisholm during an exclusive interview with Celtics Insider Chris Forsberg on the Celtics Talk Podcast.
“So, Joe is very intense, obviously — which I love, by the way,” Chisholm said. “The first time I met him was out in Sacramento. I was sitting courtside; the owner of the Kings had invited me to go, so I went, and I wasn’t wearing Celtics gear, and I wasn’t really cheering. I was trying to be polite; it’s their building and everything.
“And after the game, I see Joe across the court — I had never met him; we had never spoken — he makes eye contact with me and he comes straight, beeline to me. I’m like, ‘Oh gosh, here we go.’ And, he comes over, he puts his hand out, and he says, ‘Thirty freaking arenas and all you hear is, ‘Let’s go Celtics.’ I love it!’ And he shakes (my hand) one more time and walks away. And that was it.”
So, yeah. Mazzulla doesn’t change who he is for anybody — not even for the person who just purchased the team he coaches for $6.1 billion.
For his part, Chisholm loved his brief encounter with Mazzulla, who oversaw Boston’s 113-95 rout of the Kings that night.
“That kind of intensity — he was pumped up, it was a good game, and I just love that intensity he has,” Chisholm said.
Mazzulla is about to face his most difficult challenge yet with a Celtics roster that lost Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet this offseason and will be without superstar Jayson Tatum for most or all of the season as he recovers from Achilles surgery. But the C’s signed Mazzulla to a multi-year contract extension in August, so it’s clear the entire franchise supports its head coach.
Check out Chisholm’s full interview with Chris Forsberg on the Celtics Talk Podcast:
- Chisholm discusses how his dream of becoming the owner of the Celtics became a reality.
- Who are some of Bill’s favorite Celtics players of all time?
- How the investment group came together to buy the Celtics.
- What are the goals of the new ownership group?
- Will the Celtics look for their own arena?
- What excited you most about this year’s team?
- Best interaction with Joe Mazzulla so far.
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