Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla insists his team are under no pressure to win back-to-back NBA championships, as they prepare for Tuesday's season opener. (Streaming | More Basketball News)
The Celtics will lift the curtain on the 2024-25 campaign when they face the New York Knicks at TD Garden, where they will raise a record-breaking 18th championship banner.
Boston went a league-best 64-18 through the regular season last term, then cruised through the playoffs with a combined 16-3 record against the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers and Dallas Mavericks.
They start the new campaign as favourites to claim a record-extending 19th crown, with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Jrue Holiday forming an impressive spine.
Mazzulla, however, will not pile any more pressure on his team, the first to deliver the NBA championship to Boston since 2007-08.
"We're all going to be dead soon, and it really doesn't matter any more. So there's zero pressure," he told reporters on Monday.
"You have an opportunity to carry the organization forward, to double down on the tradition and history of what this organization has. What else would you expect than someone expecting you to win all the time?
"It's not pressure. There's nothing anyone in this circle can do to me that's going to impact my identity and who I am as a person or a coach.
"We're either going to win or we're not, and 40 years from now, none of you are invited to my funeral and that's it."
While Mazzulla is urging calm, he also expects his players to be ready for a challenging opening fixture against the Knicks, who reached the Eastern Conference semifinals last season.
"I trust who they are. I think they have an understanding of both 'this is what we accomplished' and 'this is what we're trying to do'," he added.
"All the intangibles that go into winning should carry over from one season to another season.
"You have to appreciate it. But you've got to know what got you there and if you forget what got you there, you'll never get back."
