Reporter asks Boston Celtics coach race-baiting question, Joe Mazzulla shuts him down with one sentence about Christianity



A sports reporter asked a loaded, race-baiting question to Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazulla during a Saturday press conference ahead of Game 2 of the NBA Finals. However, Mazzulla didn't take the bait and shut down the reporter with one sentence about Christianity.

Mazzulla is squaring off Dallas Mavericks' head coach Jason Kidd – both of whom are biracial with white mothers and black fathers.

Vincent Goodwin, a senior reporter for Yahoo Sports, asked, "For the first time since 1975 this is the NBA Finals where you have two black coaches. Given the plight, sometimes, of black head coaches in the NBA, do you think this is a significant moment, do you take pride in this, how do you view this, or do you not see this at all?"

Mazzulla immediately fired back, "I wonder how many of those have been Christian coaches?"

The one-sentence response completely shut down Goodwin and the room went completely silent until another reporter was tapped to ask the next question for the Celtics' coach.

You can watch the exchange here.

After the video clip went viral on social media, Goodwin doubled down and wrote a 1,600-word rebuttal to being shut down by Mazzulla.

In the article titled "Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla's unwillingness to discuss race a complicated issue," Goodwin argued: "Race is one of the defining issues in this country, and it's not easy to talk about, but when one avoids it, it adds fuel to an already complicated fire."

The reporter described Mazzulla's answer to his race-baiting question about a basketball game to be "awkward" and "just an abrupt stop."

He compared Mazzulla's response to that of Orlando Magic star Jonathan Isaac, who Goodwill accused him of using "religion as a shield against the discussion of police brutality on black folks."

Goodwill admitted that NBA players are "overwhelmingly black."

Goodwill attempted to defend his racial question by bringing up discrimination that Celtics legend Bill Russell experienced in Boston some 60 years ago.

The reporter claimed, "Colorblindness is impossible."

Goodwill concluded his article with a hypothetical scenario of Mazzulla being pulled over by police.

"But if he’s pulled over in Boston, the police will see his last name on his license, but before they find out anything else about him, they’ll see a black man first," he wrote.

"My faith is just as important as my race, if not more important."

Mazzulla discussed his faith and race in a 2022 interview with Andscape – a self-described "black-led media platform dedicated to creating, highlighting, and uplifting the diverse stories of black identity."

Mazzulla was asked about his thoughts about there being a record 16 black NBA coaches from the perspective of him being half black and half Italian, and he responded:

It’s one part and it’s not the whole me. So, my identity and who I am as a person is important and knowing who I am is important. And I think being a part of that is important for society. It’s important for the league. It’s important for the players. It’s important for people to understand that it doesn’t matter what you look like or where you come from, you can get to where you want to go. That fundamental principle is extremely important. And so, being a part of that is huge. But I don’t want to be just defined by that. That’s also important to me.

My faith is just as important as my race, if not more important. But I understand that in order to reach different people, you have to be your whole self and you can’t put yourself in a box. And so, I want to be able to reach Black people, Christians, non-Christian. Whoever it is, I want to be able to be an opportunity for that person.

According to the National Catholic Reporter, Mazzulla is a devout Catholic and Kidd is the son of an Irish Catholic, and both are graduates of Catholic school.

Mazzulla has spoken about his faith multiple times with the press, including two iconic moments.

In a postgame press conference in December 2022, a reporter asked about meeting the "royal family" of Prince William and Kate Middleton – who attended a Celtics game.

Mazzulla acutely replied, "Jesus, Mary and Joseph? I'm only familiar with one royal family."

During the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, Mazzulla was questioned about the pressures of coaching in the high-stress playoffs.

He explained that he balanced his life by visiting three females under the age of 21 dealing with terminal cancer.

"And I thought I was helping them by talking to them and they were helping me. So having an understanding about what life is really all about and watching a girl die and smiling and enjoying her life, that's what it's really all about and having that faith," Mazzulla said. "The other thing is you always hear people give glory to God and say thank you when they're holding a trophy. But you never really hear it in times like this. So for me, it's an opportunity to just sit right where I'm at and just be faithful. That's what it's about."

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Fearless: Controversies surrounding NBA legends Chauncey Billups and Jason Kidd prove America must re-embrace forgiveness



Secular societies do not forgive. They lie in wait seeking the right time to exact vengeance.

Ask Chauncey Billups and Jason Kidd. The two legendary NBA point guards recently landed head coaching jobs in Portland and Dallas, respectively. Their past sins haunted the announcements of their new jobs.

Our new woke, godless society now calls for past sins to be re-litigated, re-examined, and re-repented.

In 1997, when Billups was 21, a woman accused him and two other NBA players of sexually assaulting her. Billups settled the case in civil court. Criminal charges were never pressed.

In 2001, Kidd pled guilty to domestic abuse against his then-wife, Joumana. He was hit with a $200 fine and ordered to take anger management classes. His criminal record was later expunged. Over the last decade, Kidd has been the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks.

America has undergone a dramatic cultural shift in the past two decades, particularly in the last five years when Trump Derangement Syndrome provoked his resisters to impose a hard-line secular ethos.

Forgiveness is the primary tenet of Christianity. As we abandon the Judeo-Christian values that defined the first 240 years of this country, we're abandoning our resolve to forgive. Because we all sin, forgiveness fuels progress and reconciliation.

Today, if someone says anything that offends a group considered marginalized, it justifies permanent cancellation. Today there is no statute of limitation on sin. Double jeopardy, triple jeopardy, quadruple jeopardy are all allowed if the perpetrator represents the "wrong" point of view.

Today, in our cynical woke culture, your worst actions define you permanently.

That's why at Billups' opening news conference, reporters wanted to grill Billups and the organization about 24-year-old resolved allegations. Billups contends all of his actions with his accuser were consensual. The Trail Blazers said on Tuesday that they re-investigated the 24-year-old he-said/she-said sexual assault allegation. The Trail Blazers said they believe Billups' narrative.

Billups opened his press conference addressing the controversy:

There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about how every decision that we make could have a profound impact on a person's life. I learned at a very young age as a player, not only a player but a young man, a young adult, that every decision has consequences. And that's led to some really, really healthy but tough conversations that I've had to have with my wife, who was my girlfriend at the time in 1997, and my daughters about what actually happened and about what they may have to read about me in the news and in the media.

But this experience has shaped my life in so many different ways. My decision-making obviously. Who I allow to be in my life, the friendships and relationships I have and how I go about them. It's impacted every decision that I make and it's shaped me in some unbelievable ways.

Let me tell you why I believe Billups. My worst mistakes changed me and reshaped my approach to life. I'll give you two examples.

As a 17-year-old high school senior, I bullied one of my football teammates. In 1984, I was the captain of our nationally ranked, state championship-winning team. I was in charge of the postseason tradition of buying gifts for the entire coaching staff. The tradition was the team captain collected $10 from every player and used the money to buy the gifts.

Well, one of my teammates told me: "The coaches didn't do s**t for me. I'm not giving them a f***ing thing."

I was furious. I loved our coaches. We had a magical football season. It was our school's first football state championship. We all received state championship rings. The teammate who refused to donate to the coaching fund never played, but received a state championship ring like everyone else.

I bullied the kid for the rest of the school year. One Friday night, he walked into a pizza parlor where a bunch of kids were socializing after a basketball game, and I spit in the kid's face.

It took me a year to figure out how reprehensible my behavior was. Each year since, my regret, remorse, and resolve to atone grew stronger. But it wasn't until 1990, my final year of college, that I fully understood the error of my ways.

I was a bouncer at the most popular bar on campus, Papa Lou's Chug. I was the stereotypical dumb ex-football player. I used to drink on the job. A girl I liked came to the club. She promised to go home with me at the end of the night. I got liquored up. She spent most of the night dancing with an old high school classmate, a dude about five foot eight, 160 pounds.

I accused him of doing something wrong, beat him up, and threw him out of the club. The girl ended up going home with one of my teammates. She called me the next morning livid and explained to me what happened. I didn't remember.

I called the kid and apologized profusely. I offered or gave him money for his bloody shirt. Most importantly, I vowed to never fight again, to never bully anyone again. I've kept those promises.

The mistakes I made molded my journalistic worldview. They taught me a lesson about the abuse of power. As it related to physical strength and size, I was an elite and used my advantages to exploit people "beneath" me.

It's part of the reason I despise elites.

I'm so thankful that my mistakes didn't land me in real trouble. I'm thankful I was given a chance to evolve and become a better person.

I suspect the same thing has happened to Chauncey Billups and Jason Kidd. I hope it has. I know that their 20-year-old mistakes shouldn't cost them the opportunities they've earned today.

A society that refuses to forgive is a society that will destroy itself.