Joe Mazzulla said Jayson Tatum was 100-percent right that Joe was the happiest person in the world after Tatum failed to win Finals MVP and picked up two DNP-CDs in the Olympics.
Mazzulla said that was a gift.
Mazzulla: "That’s just the way that I love him, it’s the relationship that we have, and I appreciate that he accepts my perspective and the way that we go about talking about it. But at the end of the day he’s 26 and I just said, ‘Listen, you’ve accomplished so much in this league. And just take a step back and appreciate that and then be grateful that you’ve got god willing 10, 12, 14 years left in this league. Who knows what you’re going to see?’ And I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet because of how much he works and how he’s willing to grow. So I thought it was great that he has something to work toward. Sometimes when you get success you don’t have that next hunger right in front of you. Sometimes you’ve gotta wait for it. Sometimes it’s a loss, sometimes it’s a losing streak. He was able to get that right in front of him. So I just thought it was a gift. It doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be pissed off about it. I didn’t want to take away from how that may affect him in real time because I wasn’t there. But as his coach and as somebody that really cares about him I just thought it was great because it gives him something to work toward for the rest of his career.”