Celtics' Joe Mazzulla Offers Strange Take on Viral Jayson Tatum Injury Clip

The Boston Celtics had to hold their breath late in the first game of their series against the Magic after Jayson Tatum was fouled and he came up holding his wrist.

After Tatum was fouled, the play was reviewed to see if it was a flagrant foul. It didn't look like a flagrant, it was just a hard foul to prevent a layup. The referees agreed.

Still, that doesn't mean that the Celtics were happy with what happened. The bench got up and yelled at the Magic and the refs once they saw that Tatum was hurt.

Joe Mazzulla had the strangest reaction to his injury. Tatum was actually seen yelling at him to get up while he was holding his wrist.

Joe telling the trainer not to go out to Tatum and then immediately screaming "GET UP" is why he's the perfect man for this job pic.twitter.com/GKi9hALfV4
— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) April 21, 2025

Tatum ended up having an X-ray on the wrist following the game to determine the severity of the injury. Nothing is broken, and he is considered day-to-day; however, he is doubtful for Wednesday's Game 2.

Mazzulla was asked about his reaction to the injury. He had a very strange explanation for what he was doing.

Joe Mazzulla on the message he was trying to send here:

“Love.” https://t.co/mDM8EbrbZH pic.twitter.com/EXS5MMEcYO
— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) April 22, 2025

Saying that he was trying to give love is perhaps the strangest possible explanation for what he was doing. He certainly showed it in a strange way.

The Celtics are hoping that Tatum's wrist injury won't linger as Jaylen Brown's knee injury has for most of the season. He is their most important player.

Boston is likely going to be very cautious with both Tatum and Brown in the rest of this series. They don't need both of them in order to beat the Magic, but they will need both in order to win in the second round.

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The Celtics are one of the most dangerous teams in the NBA when their starting lineup is fully healthy. Keeping their two best players healthy is the key to them making a deep run in the playoffs again.

Mazzulla has proven that he shows his players love in strange ways. He's an unorthodox coach, but he won a title coaching that way.

In Game 1 of the series, Tatum had 17 points, 14 rebounds, and four assists. He shot just 1-8 from beyond the 3-point arc and 8-22 overall.

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