Joe Mazzulla is rarely short on memorable phrasing, and after Jaylen Brown’s ejection against the Spurs, he delivered another line that instantly cut through the noise.
Asked about crew chief Tyler Ford not being the official to assess Brown’s second technical foul, Mazzulla responded:
“I just give a ton of credit to my high school principal. He had the balls to throw a student out; he didn’t leave it to the hall monitor…he was a hell of a principal.”
Joe Mazzulla on Jaylen Brown getting ejected:
“I just give a ton of credit to my high school principal. He had the balls to throw a student out, he didn’t leave it to the hall monitor… He was a hell of a principal.”
(Via @GwashburnGlobe)
pic.twitter.com/HHNSMurkcr— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) March 11, 2026
The quote came after Brown was ejected in the first half of Boston’s 125-116 loss to San Antonio. The remark was classic Mazzulla in tone, but pointed in substance. Brown picked up two technical fouls after angrily reacting to a no-call and continuing his protest with the officiating crew. Players and staff had to restrain him as he continued yelling after the decision, and Brown ultimately left with eight points and seven assists in 15 minutes. It was only the second ejection of his NBA career.
Mazzulla’s joke worked because it did more than get a laugh. It framed the moment as one of accountability and ownership. His issue, at least publicly, was not simply that Brown got thrown out. It was that the crew chief was not the one delivering the final act. In one sharp comparison, Mazzulla turned a routine officiating question into a criticism of hierarchy, suggesting that if a decision that significant is going to be made, the person in charge should be the one making it.
The ejection also changed the texture of the game. Brown had been one of Boston’s engines early, but his exit handed the spotlight to the Spurs, who capitalized in a 125-116 win. Victor Wembanyama led San Antonio with 39 points and tied his career high with eight made threes, while the Celtics were left lamenting a sequence that overshadowed what had looked like a marquee matchup.
