Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla is not reading too much into reports of strong chemistry and positive vibes around the team during training camp.
Mazzulla acknowledged that the Celtics may feel good about their group right now, but he believes the real test will come when the team encounters the inevitable challenges of an NBA season.
“Every team you lead is the most together team right now,” Mazzulla said, per Noah Dalzell. “Because we haven’t traveled. No one’s gotten benched. No one’s been on a losing streak. No one’s gotten blamed in the media. No one’s had to go stand in the corner for 10 minutes and not get the ball.”
Mazzulla believes those experiences are what ultimately reveal how a team handles adversity and whether its players can remain connected when things do not go according to plan.
“So, you learn those things as the season goes on, and you just learn how to work through those things together,” he said. “And you can’t simulate those. It just comes with time.”
The Celtics enter the 2026-27 season with a significantly different roster following a turbulent offseason. Boston traded Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Paul George and draft capital after finishing 56-26 and winning the Atlantic Division last season.
Brown averaged 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists in 71 games during the 2025-26 regular season and earned All-NBA Second Team honors. George now joins a Celtics team that also features Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and a revamped frontcourt.
Mazzulla, however, believes the Celtics are no different from the other teams around the league when it comes to their current optimism.
“And so, right now I would say all 30 teams feel great about themselves,” Mazzulla said. “And we got to wait till adversity hits.”
“And adversity is even a strong word,” the coach added. “There’s nothing really adverse about playing in the NBA. But we got to wait until stuff doesn’t go your way, and then you got to figure out who we are and how we’re going to be at our best.”
That process could be particularly important for Boston after an offseason that dramatically changed the team’s identity. The Celtics added George, Mitchell Robinson and Mike Conley while also extending Neemias Queta and Jordan Walsh.
Tatum, meanwhile, returns after missing the first 62 games of last season with an injury. Boston will have to establish how its new-look roster functions together once the games become more meaningful.
