Before he took a single question Saturday, ahead of one of the Celtics’ most anticipated games of the season, coach Joe Mazzulla issued an opening statement over a minute long.
Not once did he mention basketball.
Mazzulla instead addressed the death of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who suffered a severe beating at the hands of Memphis police officers during a traffic stop on Jan. 7. Nichols died in a hospital three days later. The city of Memphis released video footage of Nichols’ deadly arrest Friday night, sparking outcry from across the NBA.
Mazzulla’s complete statement is below.
“On behalf of the Celtics, and my family in particular, I want to pray for Tyre Nichols’ soul. I pray for (Nichols’ mother) Mrs. (RowVaughn) Wells, her heart and her soul. I pray for their family in real prayer. Just praying for their grief, their understanding of the situation and to open up my heart,” Mazzulla said.
“I do think there are multiple things here. There’s systemic issues, there’s a cultural issue, there’s a leadership issue. Bigger than that, there is an issue of this is a broken world. We live in a broken world, where we don’t hold each other accountable enough to the simple things in life; like love, respect, treating people the right way and loving your neighbor. And instead, we praise pride, we praise arrogance, we praise entitlement. We all feel like we can do whatever we want at times, and that’s not how this world works.
“So our Celtics organization grieves for them, we pray for them. And it’s really important that we’re a representation of love, a representation of hope, and taking care of the guy next to us. That’s what it’s all about. So I just wanted to share that.”
Nichols’ death on Jan. 10 led to five Memphis police officers being fired, arrested and charged in connection with his beating. They each face charges of second-degree murder, aggravated assault, aggravated kidnapping, official misconduct and official oppression. All five are Black.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham also addressed Nichols’ passing in his own pregame press conference.
“Our prayers and condolences go out to the Nichols family. God rest his soul,” Ham said. “Extremely unfortunate situation, tragic on every level. And the whole entire city of Memphis. … To see that was bone chilling, man. It’s unfortunate. (It) just shows that we need to continue the process of trying to correct people who are put in position to protect and serve and maintain peace, not to harass and intimidate and be the authors of chaos.”
Earlier Saturday, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens lauded Mazzulla’s leadership on 98.5 The Sports Hub.
“He’s a leader,” Stevens said. “He’s invested, and everyone in the gym knows he’s going to work … You’re not going to be perfect … the key is to get right back at it and make those corrections. And he’s terrific at that.”
