Mazzulla tells Celtics all 30 NBA teams feel good in October

Boston's coach said all 30 NBA teams feel united before adversity arrives, as the post-Jaylen Brown Celtics open preseason Oct. 8.

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has used the opening days of training camp to deliver a word of caution to his players. Speaking with reporters ahead of the 2026-27 NBA season, in comments shared by reporter Noa Dalzell, Mazzulla said the good mood around his team at this stage is not a sign of anything special, because every club in the league feels the same way in October. Morale at the facility is high, and his message was that this proves little on its own.

"Every team you lead is the most together team right now," Mazzulla said. "Because we haven't traveled. No one's gotten benched. No one's been on a losing streak. No one's gotten blamed in the media."

He extended the point to the smaller grievances that accumulate over a season, noting that no one has yet "had to go stand in the corner for 10 minutes and not get the ball." "And you can't simulate those. It just comes with time," he said, explaining that teams learn to work through such moments together only once the season delivers them.

His estimate was that all 30 teams currently feel great about themselves, which makes training camp harmony the league's default condition rather than an achievement. "There's nothing really adverse about playing in the NBA," he said, adding that adversity may even be too strong a word for the job. The real information arrives when "stuff doesn't go your way," at which point a group must figure out who it is and how it can be at its best.

The perspective arrives with an accomplished resume attached. Mazzulla is preparing for his fifth season as Celtics head coach, a tenure that includes the 2024 championship and a Coach of the Year award last season. Underwhelming results in the most recent postseason, however, left the coach and his roster with doubters to answer.

They will answer them with a notably different lineup. Boston traded Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers in a deal for Paul George, a move that firmly establishes Jayson Tatum as the team's central figure. The organization believes the supporting cast assembled around Tatum is strong enough for the team to remain a serious playoff contender.

Supporters will get an early look at the remade group in short order. The Celtics are scheduled for four preseason games, opening Oct. 8 against the Cleveland Cavaliers and closing Oct. 16 against the Philadelphia 76ers, a finale that doubles as a first look at Jaylen Brown in his new uniform.

The games that count begin Oct. 20, when Boston tips off the regular season on the road against the Detroit Pistons at 3 p.m. ET. That opener starts the process Mazzulla described: the months ahead, not the practices already completed, will show how together this version of the Celtics truly is.