Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla needs an NBA history lesson

Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said something really crazy recently. He later tried to clarify what he said, but the clarification was still pretty crazy. With his words, Mazzulla revealed both a lack of historical knowledge about his own league and about how race works in America.

During a radio interview on Tuesday, Mazzulla said the NBA should resume the fight. You read that correctly. It's true that Mazzulla is a strange bird who says some strange things, but this was wild even for him. It made numerous headlines across the country. Listen to this part of the interview for yourself:

“The biggest thing we're robbing people of from an entertainment perspective is that you can't fight anymore. I wish we would bring fighting back,” Mazzulla said on NBC Sports Boston. “What’s more entertaining than a little brawl? How come they get to clear the benches during baseball? How come they get to fight in hockey?”

“I don't understand. I just don't understand why some sports are allowed to clear the benches. They have bats and guns (in baseball). Not us. We have a ball. The other sport (hockey) does.” One of the hardest playing surfaces and a puck and a stick. And yet we’re not allowed to throw anything away?”

Mazzulla tried to clarify what he said on Wednesday, explaining that he was not advocating for the legalization of fighting. Instead, as Boston.com reported, Mazzulla said his comments were more about the way fouls are called. Mazzulla later added in part: “We have to be okay with a little conflict, that's what I would say.”

Even his revised comments are problematic (and don't actually seem that revised). He doesn't seem to understand why the NBA is different and needs to be different and in many ways is forced to be different.

Let's focus on one thing Mazzulla said in his original radio interview: I just don't understand why some sports are allowed to clear the benches.

The answer is not complicated. A lot of this depends on history and race. Like so many other things in life, they are interconnected.

Let me explain. Fights in the NBA have long been viewed as different than fights in other sports. In ice hockey it is considered part of the sport. The same goes for baseball too. But of course it is more than that.

White people who fight in a sport are simply viewed as different than people of color who play that sport. Especially black athletes and especially black NBA players. This isn't even a controversial issue. Ordinary people living on Earth simply know it to be true. This kind of double standard has been discussed for decades. When black players fight, they are thugs and henchmen. When white players do it, it's fiery and competitive. In fact, it is considered extremely entertaining.

There was a classic moment 10 years ago when former Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman, now a commentator, spoke about this very topic in a smart and blunt way that few have ever done publicly. In fact, few athletes in the recent history of American sports have spoken so fearlessly about race. Sherman was once on a panel and was asked about the double standards that black professional athletes face in games against white professional athletes.

“It’s almost angry black man syndrome, especially with football players,” Sherman said. “I couldn't imagine if there was a big fight on a football field, what the consequences would be and what the comments would be. There was just a huge brawl in baseball, a huge brawl. I haven't heard anything about it since.”

Former Houston Texans running back Arian Foster, also on the panel, added: “Hockey, they fight every day.”

“There was a day when they broke a record,” Sherman replied. “They knocked the puck away two seconds into the game. Everybody was like, 'Man, this is good hockey.'”

“The referees walk around and just look at it,” Foster said. “When we fight, it's like 'Those animals'.”

“That’s the frustrating part, the double standards, the triple standards,” Sherman said. “The way an athlete is viewed. The way an African-American athlete is viewed in football or basketball, predominantly African-American sports. Just a fight. Imagine a football brawl and imagine the coverage.”

Nothing has changed since Sherman said those things.

It's inconceivable that Mazzulla doesn't know all this. I don’t buy Mazzulla’s “clarification” either. I think what he said in that original interview is exactly what he meant.

More fights in the NBA or more “conflict” would result in black players being labeled as thugs in the sport. This would drastically reduce the popularity of the sport, which is currently remarkably high. How do I know this? Because it's happened before.

The 1970s NBA was rife with brawls (and drugs) and the perception of the sport was so problematic that the league nearly collapsed. The average attendance during this decade was about 8,000 fans per game. Television ratings were dismal. The on-court violence of this era was symbolized during a game between the Rockets and Lakers in 1977. Rudy Tomjanovich was trying to break up a fight when he was punched by Kermit Washington. Tomjanovich suffered a fractured skull, cheekbone and nose. It was one of the ugliest moments in sports history.

The players' self-inflicted damage from constant fighting, coupled with the racism of fans and some media, almost caused the league to collapse.

“To say I haven’t had a great response from potential sponsors would be the nicest way to put it,” former NBA executive Rick Welts said in the ESPN documentary “Basketball: A Love Story.” “If I could get an appointment, it would be about 15 minutes of asking 'Why would anyone in their right mind want to be associated with your league?'”

That's what fighting entailed.

That doesn’t even include 2004’s “Malice at the Palace.” Afterwards, the entire player base, not just the participants in the brawl, was branded as thugs by many media outlets.

The league may be “soft” for some now, but the game is breathtaking and great. It's a fast, futuristic sport that brings people together from all over the world.

There is no need for more “conflict”. There is no need to fight to become great. That's it already.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla needs an NBA history lesson

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