Joe Mazzulla has never been a conventional NBA head coach. From his unusual motivational methods to his willingness to challenge basketball traditions, the Boston Celtics coach has repeatedly demonstrated that he isn’t particularly interested in doing things the way everyone else does.
His latest experiment might be one of his most unusual yet. Ahead of Sunday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Mazzulla allowed his players to help determine the starting lineup. Jayson Tatum and Derrick White ultimately selected veteran point guard Mike Conley, who had barely seen the floor throughout the opening weeks of the season.
According to CelticsBlog’s Noa Dalzell, Conley had played just 22 minutes across Boston’s first nine games before suddenly receiving his first start of the season.
Even the 39-year-old couldn’t believe it.
“I heard it from D-White and JT,” Conley explained after Boston’s 117-97 victory. “They were like, ‘Hey, you’re starting in Milwaukee.’ I was like, ‘What?'”
The decision originated following Friday’s blowout victory over the Charlotte Hornets, when Conley impressed his teammates and coaching staff with his defensive intensity during an 11-minute appearance.
Tatum and White subsequently approached the veteran about the possibility of starting the next game. Conley initially assumed they were joking.
But during Sunday’s team meeting, Mazzulla asked his players to determine who should start, and Tatum included Conley in his proposed lineup alongside himself, White, Paul George and Neemias Queta.
Suddenly, a player who had spent most of the season watching from the bench was starting against Milwaukee. The experiment didn’t exactly produce immediate results.
Boston fell behind 20-6 in the opening minutes as Kyle Kuzma torched the Celtics’ defense. Conley played approximately ten minutes in total, failed to score and finished with a minus-11 plus-minus.
However, Mazzulla defended the decision, praising Conley’s defensive contributions and emphasizing that the starting five represents only a small portion of the combinations a team uses throughout a game.
And Boston ultimately recovered in convincing fashion. Paul George scored 27 points, Tatum contributed 21, and the Celtics overcame their early deficit to secure a comfortable 20-point victory, improving to 8-2.
But the more interesting story wasn’t necessarily Conley’s performance. It was what the decision revealed about Mazzulla’s approach to coaching. Throughout the season, the Celtics have increasingly involved players in scouting, film sessions and tactical preparation, giving them responsibilities traditionally reserved for the coaching staff.
Conley, now in his 20th NBA season, admitted he had never experienced anything quite like it.
“This is the first place,” he said, describing Boston’s unusually collaborative environment.
The veteran has already helped lead film sessions and contributed to defensive game plans, effectively serving as an additional coach while remaining available to play.
Mazzulla has embraced that arrangement, describing Conley as an extension of his coaching staff and emphasizing the importance of learning from his two decades of professional experience.
The experiment illustrates an important aspect of Mazzulla’s philosophy: leadership doesn’t necessarily require controlling every decision.
