New Celtics guard Mike Conley jokes about his first impression of Joe Mazzulla

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Joe Mazzulla’s resume as a championship-winning NBA head coach sometimes gets overlooked in favor of his odd (and often intense) quotes, coupled with his love of MMA and movies, including “The Town.”

​Mazzulla’s reputation as a quirky, exacting, and extreme personality has clearly permeated across the NBA, given his propensity for going viral while up at the mic during the season.​

New Celtics guard Mike Conley echoed that sentiment on Tuesday when asked about his initial impressions of his new head coach.

“I thought he was crazy before. He’s not. No, he’s not, he’s not,” Conley said with a smile on Tuesday about Mazzulla, who shot him a glance from across the table during his introductory press conference at the Auerbach Center. “He’s not crazy, no. My impressions have been everything that I expected.

“I think from here, from some of the players who played for him, just from around the league, his ideas — He’s not afraid to push the envelope a little bit. To try things, to try different schemes and different reactions for players, different ways of getting things across. It’s refreshing for me.”

Mike Conley on his early impressions of Joe Mazzulla so far 🤣

“I thought he was crazy before. He's not crazy. My impressions have been everything I've expected…He's not afraid to push the envelope…Different ways of getting things across…It’s refreshing."–@CLNSMedia

​Conley, who signed a veteran-minimum contract with Boston this offseason, is expected to bring added depth to Boston’s backcourt. The 38-year-old guard is set to enter his 20th year in the NBA after making his debut with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2007.

Conley’s numbers — 4.5 points, 2.9 assists, 33.5 field-goal percentage over 18.4 minutes per game last year in Minnesota— may not leap off the page.

But, the veteran believes he still has something to give this reworked Boston roster, both as a reliable option in the backcourt and an established leader on a team working younger players like Hugo Gonzalez and Baylor Scheierman into featured roles this winter.

“At this stage, at 20 years, honestly, you want to say you feel the same as you did when you were a lot younger, but you grow as you get older,” Conley said. “You understand what you can bring in different points of the year. I still got a lot left. I still can do it on the court, off the court. But leadership is one thing I know I can bring.”

Beyond the Celtics’ history and expectation of contention in this market, Conley also believes that a year under Mazzulla’s watch could spark some additional production — especially with a Boston club that has prioritized spacing and 3-point shooting since Mazzulla took the reins in 2022.

“You’re used to just having coaches be kind of structured in a certain way and how basketball has always been played,” Conley explained. “I get here, I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. Like I don’t know.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Mazzulla responded.

“It is. I don’t know what, I’m like — There’s so much for me to learn about the game, but the way he sees the game is a different lens,” Conley added. “So, I think that’s a special thing, and something for me, and I’m sure Paul [George] has [felt it], too.”

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.

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