'We're all going to be dead soon': Celtics' Joe Mazzulla downplays pressure facing Boston

In June, the Boston Celtics won their 18th NBA championship. They are looking to become the first team since the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors to repeat.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla nonetheless had an interesting – if borderline nihilistic – response when asked about the pressure his team is facing.

"Zero," Mazzulla told reporters Monday. "No pressure. We're all going to be dead soon and it really doesn't matter anymore so, like, there's zero pressure. You're either going to win or you're not. And when you win, you try to forget about it a week later, and when you lose, you try to forget about it a week later. So it's not pressure, it's an opportunity.

The Celtics topped the Dallas Mavericks in five games in the NBA Finals, winning their first title since 2008. Though Boston could be without center Kristaps Porziņģis for some time to start the 2024-25 season, the team is built to make another run, returning its cast of stars such as Olympians Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and Derrick White and NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Jaylen Brown.

It all starts Tuesday, with Boston hosting the New York Knicks in the NBA's tip-off game to open the regular season.

"It's an opportunity here over the next few years, however long we're together," Mazzulla continued. "I've said this in the past: We have an opportunity to carry the organization forward, to double down on the history and tradition of what this organization has, and what else would you expect than someone expecting you to win all the time? I wouldn't want someone expecting me to lose all the time. That would be debilitating."

The Celtics won 64 games last season, seven more than the next closest teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets. Boston rolled through the 2024 NBA playoffs, compiling a 16-3 record and never needing more than five games to take a series.

Mazzulla is entering his third season as Boston's head coach and is carrying a 121-43 record (.738) into this season. Last season, Boston ranked first in offensive efficiency and second in defensive efficiency and, given that the team is returning all of its key contributors, the Celtics are once again the odds-on favorite to win the 2025 NBA Finals.

"We have an expectation to win," Mazzulla added. "We have great character, great talent, and we just have to work to maximize that. We're going to rely on the players to do that."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Joe Mazzulla explains why Celtics have 'zero pressure' this NBA season