Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was fined $35,000 by the NBA on Saturday for his conduct toward officials during Thursday’s 117–108 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
The penalty was due to “aggressively pursuing and directing inappropriate language toward a game official,” the league announced.
Mazzulla was initially whistled for a technical foul for leaving the coach’s box on the sideline and walking onto the court during the fourth quarter. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were also issued technical fouls before Mazzulla’s infraction.
After the final buzzer, Mazzulla pursued referee Justin Van Duyne to take issue with the calls. The Celtics coach had a cheeky response when asked what he said to the officials.
“I just hadn’t seen them in a while, so just a merry Christmas, happy holidays, wasn’t sure I was going to see them before the holiday,” Mazzulla said during his postgame press conference. “I just can’t let a moment go by where you wish someone just the best to them and theirs and their families.”
That likely helped Mazzulla avoid a higher fine, such as the one Houston Rockets coach Ime Udoka received earlier this month for pursuing officials on the court, then criticized them in postgame remarks.
Following the game, crew chief Tony Brothers told reporters that Brown received a technical for questioning a referee’s integrity, according to the Associated Press. Tatum got his technical for “an overt action towards an official.”
Brown countered that he was given a technical for no reason.
“As a captain… I speak for my team. I’m allowed to talk,” Brown said. “So when I tell you, ‘You called a tech for no reason’ and he says, ‘If you say that again, I’m gonna call that a tech,’ you’re just [using] your whistle as a threat. That’s not a part of the game.”
Brown was fined $25,000 two weeks ago for making a throat-slash gesture to the Detroit Pistons‘ Isaiah Stewart during their Dec. 6 matchup.
The Celtics play the Bulls again on Saturday, this time in Chicago.