NBA ALL-STAR MEDIA DAY

February 18, 2023

Joe Mazzulla

Media Day Press Conference

JOE MAZZULLA: It means a lot. Both my kids and my wife, they've sacrificed more than I have for me to get to this, and I'm very grateful. So for me to be able to give back to them by having this experience, you know, I'm forever indebted to them.

Q. (Off microphone.)

JOE MAZZULLA: It's cool to see these guys. You compete against them, and like I said before, these guys were only looked at as players and not people all the time. To be able to be in a different environment with them where you just get to see them, get to know them, that was really exciting.

Q. I have a question for you, sir.

JOE MAZZULLA: You got it.

Q. Who do you have on your Dunk Contest tonight?

JOE MAZZULLA: You (Trey Murphy III)? Are you in it?

Q. Yes.

JOE MAZZULLA: I got you in it (laughing).

Q. (Off microphone.)

JOE MAZZULLA: I watch more soccer. I believe in doing things other than basketball to open up the brain waves, open up the creativity, open up spontaneity. I watch a lot of soccer and kind of use that to open up things that I can see, things that may be able to help finding different advantages.

Q. What about soccer specifically helps you?

JOE MAZZULLA: I think just the spacing. I think teams that value possession, what they do with that possession, how long they keep it for, how do they generate runs, how they use runs to generate angles to create an opportunity somewhere else on the field.

So that kind of, to me, plays a part in half-court offenses. Once you generate an advantage, what can you use to keep that advantage?