Celtics

Kendrick Perkins hands out harsh critique for Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla

"If you take his brain out and you put it in a bird, the bird is going to start flying backwards."

By Conor Ryan

January 22, 2024

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Joe Mazzulla and the Celtics might be sitting atop the standings in the NBA with a 33-10 record.

But Boston’s second-year head coach has not been immune to criticism during his tenure on the sideline.

And while most of those gripes were unearthed during the 35-year-old coach’s growing pains in the 2022-23 season, former Celtics big man Kendrick Perkins offered up a harsh critique of Mazzulla following Boston’s 102-100 loss to the Nuggets on Friday.

“They have two Joe Mazzullas,” Perkins said on ESPN’s NBA Countdown. “They have the one that got the philosophy of we’re going to get up more 3s than you. When they hit them, he looks great. Then you have the other Joe Mazzulla, who just stands over there, and you wonder. If you take his brain out and you put it in a bird, the bird is going to start flying backwards. You got that Joe Mazzulla.

“You know why I say that? It’s because he doesn’t get his guys easy looks. Time and time again, we kept saying, attack the paint. You have so many guys that are great at cutting. They cannot continue to play AAU style basketball all the time. You gotta have sets.”

The Celtics’ reliance on the 3-ball has hampered them at times during Mazzulla’s tenure as head coach, especially during last year’s Eastern Conference Finals loss to the Miami Heat. 

With Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday added to a sharpshooting Boston’s roster over the summer, the Celtics have largely limited their extended slumps beyond the arc this season.

Still, an emphasis on 3-point shooting does open the door for some regression and slumps. During Boston’s loss to the Nuggets, the Celtics only connected on 14 of their 44 attempts from 3-point range.

This is far from the first time that Perkins has been critical of Boston’s coaching approach under Mazzulla.

Even though Perkins admitted in late December that the Celtics were the “best team in the NBA”, his declaration served as a revision from his early-season prediction that Boston boasted a deeply flawed team. 

“Look, when I look at that starting five with Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and (Kristaps) Porzingis — that is so electrifying,” Perkins said last month. “And I know all the people, the naysayers, are saying they shoot too many 3s. I was one of them. But I’m a believer in their 3-point shooting, and I’m a believer in their perimeter defense. This team should be favored to win it all.”