Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was fined $35,000 by the NBA on Saturday for his conduct toward officials during Thursday’s 117-108 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
The penalty was due to “aggressively pursuing and directing inappropriate language toward a game official,” the league announced.
Mazzulla was initially whistled for a technical foul for leaving the coach’s box on the sideline and walking onto the field in the fourth quarter. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum also received technical fouls before Mazzulla’s foul.
After the final buzzer, Mazzulla chased down referee Justin Van Duyne to challenge the calls. The Celtics coach responded rudely when asked what he said to the officials.
“I just hadn’t seen them in a while, so just Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. I wasn’t sure if I’d see them before the holidays,” Mazzulla said during his post-match press conference. “I just can’t pass up a moment when you wish someone the best for themselves, for themselves and for their families.”
That likely helped Mazzulla avoid a larger fine, like the one Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka received earlier this month for chasing officials on the field and then criticizing them in post-game comments.
After the game, crew chief Tony Brothers told reporters that Brown was called a technical foul for questioning the integrity of a referee, according to the Associated Press. Tatum was given his technical citation for “an overt act against a public servant.”
Brown countered that he was given a technical inspection for no reason.
“As captain … I speak for my team. I’m allowed to speak,” Brown said. “So if I tell you, ‘You called a tech for no reason,’ and he says, ‘If you say that again, I’ll call that a tech,’ you just say [using] your whistle as a threat. That’s not part of the game.”
Brown was fined $25,000 two weeks ago for making a throat-slash gesture at Isaiah Stewart of the Detroit Pistons during their Dec. 6 game.
The Celtics play the Bulls again on Saturday, this time in Chicago.
