Video: Jaylen Brown Explains Why Celtics Have ‘Killer Whale’ Offense on ‘Hot Ones’

Joseph Zucker@@JosephZuckerFeatured Columnist IVOctober 3, 2024

Adam Glanzman/Getty Images

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla loves a good analogy and he found one to describe the team’s devastating offense.

Celtics star Jaylen Brown said on Thursday’s episode of Hot Ones that Mazzulla has likened the offense to a killer whale. The coach used how orcas hunt in pods to illustrate how his players should attack opposing defenses.

This isn’t the first we’ve heard of the killer whale comparison. Forward Sam Hauser referenced it midway through the NBA Finals this summer, and the Wall Street Journal’s Robert O’Connell dove into the topic in more depth.

Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbachlol Sam Hauser on Joe Mazzulla:
“I would just say he’s like got a unique approach to the game. He pulls things from, like, soccer teams, pulls things from killer whales and how they go about finding food and prey, things like that.”

Mazzulla’s methods might be odd but it’s hard to argue with the results.

Boston had the highest offensive rating (122.2) in the regular season, per NBA.com, and then it outscored its opponents by 8.6 points per 100 possessions in the playoffs. The Celtics were the best team in the league before the postseason got underway and lived up to that label by dropping just three games during their title run.

Maybe other coaches need to start looking to the animal kingdom for their advice to players.