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Leading two of the most well-known basketball franchises is challenging, but one that Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla and Connecticut Sun head coach Stephanie White not only accept but love.
“It’s a privilege to uphold a tradition and uphold an expectation that has been with the Celtic organization ever since it started,” Mazzulla told White.
Mazzulla and White discussed coaching, traditions and much more in a video provided by the Celtics’ official YouTube channel.
“The first word that comes to mind for me is just you have a responsibility to that tradition,” Mazzulla continued. “To the players before. To the coaches before. Just walking into the Red Auerbach Center gives you that perspective to understand how important the job is.”
The Sun have been in existence for 24 years, which is much less than the Celtics’ 77 years, but their history is just as rich in the WNBA.
“I look at it as a privilege to step into this position and have an opportunity to compete and to win,” White said. “Certainly, there are high expectations, but I embrace those, and I look forward to the challenge of that, and I think it’s not something that you shy away from. I think it’s something you use as an empowering moment.”
Both Mazzulla and White said the way they were coached as players has influenced how they approach coaching.
“For me, I try and coach like I wanted to be coached as a player,” White said. “You know you want to be challenged. You want to be put into positions to be successful. You want to play for people that are upfront and honest with you, high level of communication but push you to be the best you can be.”
Mazzulla echoed White’s sentiments and added he tries to mirror the strengths of each of the coaches he’s either played under or coached with.
“I think you can learn from everybody, and I’m a product of all those coaches,” he said.
White added that coaching elite players only makes her a better coach, something Mazzulla agreed with.
“For me, it’s very humbling coaching someone who’s one of the absolute best at what they do,” the Celtics coach said. “It’s awesome to watch those guys compete at such a high level. It’s awesome to watch the standard that they hold themselves to, the work ethic that they put in.”
Both agreed, that no one would hold them to a higher standard than themselves.
The Sun are currently in the offseason, but White will look to help the team win their first WNBA championship. The Celtics, currently the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, will seek to capture the 18th NBA title in franchise history this spring.
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