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Joe Mazzulla lays out tough truths he told Charles Lee before their encounter in Charlotte

Matt Alquiza

Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
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Charles Lee's NBA experience made him one of the most desirable options on last offseason's coaching carousel, and his appointment in Buzz City was the first of many moves geared at changing the culture with the Charlotte Hornets. His former boss, Joe Mazzulla, the head coach of the Boston Celtics, has become famous for his, let's say, odd, outlook on life, basketball, and coaching.

At a Celtics shoot around this afternoon, Mazzulla went on a diatribe about how he doesn't want to give coaches any sort of competitive advantage by acting friendly with them, using his protégé Charles Lee as a pointed example. See below for Mazzulla's quote.

"I told Charles (Lee) when he left: 'I'm not talking to you during the season.' I'm not waving to you at the National Anthem. You're the enemy."

"(Charles Lee) breached rules and came into the coach's locker room and forced me to give him a hug, which could easily be a psychological tell that knocks you off your game. He knew what he was doing."

Mazzulla then said it was not nice to hug his former assistant. Yikes.

You have to respect Mazzulla's commitment to the bit. He's skyrocketed up NBA coaching rankings by employing a five-out, three point-centric scheme that squeezes every ounce of talent out of his Celtics roster, but he continuously creates viral headlines with off-the-wall statements like this one.

Charles Lee could not be more opposite than Mazzulla.

Charlotte's head coach is jovial, quick to speak, and one of the friendliest personas in the Association. His willingness to cross enemy lines and hug his former boss is a small glance at the type of human that Lee is, and the joy that he brings to his Hornets locker room on a daily basis. All eyes will be on Lee and Mazzulla in their next match up on April 11th in Beantown.

No matter what Mazzulla says that turns heads on a daily basis, he's damn good at his job. He's an NBA champion head coach, and the maestro of a roster that is favored to be the first franchise to win back-to-back world championships since the 2017-18 Golden State Warriors.

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Matt Alquiza
MATT ALQUIZA

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