(ANALYSIS) It’s rare to hear eight seconds of dead silence during an NBA Finals press conference.
Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla was asked if, because of the “plight” of Black head coaches, it was significant that both teams in the Finals were led by Black men for the first time since 1975. Was this a source of pride for him?
Mazzulla's answer was blunt: “I wonder how many of those have been Christian coaches?”
The son of an Italian father and a Black mother, Mazzulla is an outspoken Catholic whose pregame routine includes pacing through an empty arena, praying with a rosary made with wood from the court of the original Boston Garden.
While his press conference response drew many cheers in social media, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was not amused.
Mazzulla “decided to ignore a legitimate question about race that might have been illuminating and inspiring for others, and instead decided to virtue signal,” wrote Abdul-Jabbar, the six-time NBA MVP, on Substack.
Source: https://religionunplugged.com/news/2024/6/19/on-religion-boston-celtics-...