Whether you like him or hate him, Joe Mazzulla is officially an NBA champion now and he had to battle more than just the doubters to get to this point.
Speaker to ESPN after the Boston Celtics’ title-winning Game 5 over the Dallas Mavericks last night, Mazzulla was asked how he intends to celebrate. But he laughed and said that he needed surgery because he had been battling a torn meniscus throughout the NBA playoffs.
“Guess what? I have to get knee surgery. I tore my meniscus in March after we lost to Atlanta… I’m gonna be out a little while. I’ve been working through it since March,” Mazzulla said, via Barstool Sports.
A torn meniscus is no joke. It’s a serious knee injury that usually proves season-ending in most professional sports due to the pain and way it messes with your leg strength.
Fans online have been praising Mazzulla for proving to have so much grit and toughness:
“My mom had a torn meniscus for 8 months and didn’t even know it. Mazzulla a savage tho fr fr,” one user wrote on X.
“One Tough SOB,” wrote another.
“Joe Mazzulla tearing his meniscus doing jiu jitsu after a loss to the Hawks is actually one of the least surprising things to happen this season,” a third joked.
While some people complained that it’s not as tough as people who have to suffer through the injury for manual labor jobs, working through pain at any job is pretty impressive.
Hope the surgery goes well, Coach Mazzulla!
Related: Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla Sends Powerful Message With Postgame T-Shirt