The head coach of the Boston Celtics, Joe Mazzula, had a surprising answer when asked what his next professional goal is.
“I just became eligible to be a deacon, which I’ve always wanted to do,” he said on a recent episode of the podcast “Godsplaining.” “There we go. I've been thinking about that.”
The 37-year-old coach was being interviewed by Dominican Father Joseph-Anthony Kress about his faith journey, but even Fr. Kress was surprised by the turn the conversation took.
“When I asked the question, I was expecting his response to reference another championship or Olympic gold medal coaching hopes,” Fr. Kress told EWTN, according to Church Pop. “What I didn’t expect was for him to appropriately hope for a more eternal prize… being ordained as a deacon in the Catholic Church.”
In the interview, Mazzula, a lifelong Catholic, discussed at length how he has been tempted over the course of his life to put basketball ahead of God. He said that it was hard for him to trust in God, and that he struggled with his identity as a result.
“For a long time in my life, I didn’t believe what [God] said about me was true,” he said. “When you neglect that and don't believe that it's true, you look for false truths.”
“As a kid, it's easier to believe that your identity is in basketball than it is that Someone died for you and gave up their entire life for you, and that you have this grace and you can’t earn it and it’s given to you, and all you have to do is accept it,” he continued. “And that’s hard to accept, as opposed to seeing a newspaper article that says how good you are at basketball.”
This appearance on “Godsplaining” is not the first time that Mazzula has spoken about his faith. In November 2022, Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton of Wales were present at one of his games. A reporter asked what it was like to have the Royal family present.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph?” Mazzula joked, according to Church Pop.
The reporter explained he was talking about the prince and princess.
“I’m only familiar with one royal family,” Mazzula said. “I don’t know too much about that one. But hopefully they’re Celtic fans.”