Under Joe Mazzulla, Celtics Rebuilding Brotherhood Between Past and Present

The start of the Celtics' training camp has seen the restoration of a rich and proud tradition.

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When the Celtics opened training camp on Tuesday, present were eight-time NBA champion and Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Tom "Satch" Sanders, Eddie House, a member of their 2008 title team, who now works as an analyst for NBC Sports Boston, and Leon Powe, a teammate of House's the year the franchise captured Banner 17.

Wednesday, Paul Pierce was at the Auerbach Center. His visit included spending time with Jayson Tatum as the latter went through post-practice drills orchestrated by assistant coach Sam Cassell, who hopes to help the four-time All-Star reach the NBA summit, just as he did for "The Truth."

Celtics' legends taking in a practice or a game was common for most of the organization's existence. Along with having Tommy Heinsohn on the team's broadcast, some of their most distinguished alums, from Jo Jo White to Bob Cousy, were staples at Boston's home contests.

But the passing of time has taken its toll on what was a rich and proud tradition. It's no one's fault that more recently retired Celtics haven't been as present. They have lives to live, which, for some, includes working in the NBA, while others, like Isaiah Thomas, are yet to retire.

Furthermore, Pierce and Walker attend multiple matchups in Boston each season. Thomas and Rajon Rondo were on hand for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, as were Pierce and House, among others.

But Celtics' head coach Joe Mazzulla is making a concerted effort to revive this tradition, working to strengthen the bond between players past and present, elevating this brotherhood back to where it's stood for most of the franchise's existence.

"(Last week), I sent that email out to all the Celtic former players because I felt like it's important that we share in this experience together. They started the tradition; they kept it going, and now it's our responsibility as an organization to keep it alive. But when you don't see them all the time, (then) you don't get that connection to the past. And the only past we have is the banners alone. The past should be the banners, but it should be the people. And so, I thought it was extremely important that any and every Celtic is welcome to a practice or a game so we can build that brotherhood of what we are." 

The second-year bench boss continued, "I kind of compare it to college. When guys go to the NBA, they always go back to their college to workout -- we see that all the time. We should be coming back here. And so, I appreciate him (Pierce) and being there and extending that to everyone, and we just have to create that brotherhood and environment."

When asked how he believes it affects the players, Mazzulla conveyed, "It's funny, so, like I said this, like if you and it's no one's fault on their own, but it could have a negative effect if we don't do it all the time because then it's like we're making it about the past and that one guy, but if we normalize it and there's people around all the time, not just at a Game 7 or not just at a first playoff game, then it becomes like we're doing this together. And so, I wanted to break that barrier of like, once in a while and like all the time, any time; whether it's on the team plane, team dinner, like we should have that open environment."

With their head coach paving the way, expect that to be the case in what would represent a return to familiarity for a franchise working to restore tradition while striving for present-day success.

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