The reporter shares his honest thoughts on the media vs. coaches game

Joe Mazzulla made waves in the NBA when he had his own coaching staff play a brawl against the Boston Celtics media. One reporter who took part in the special match gave her thoughts on the experience.

The game between the Celtics coach and the media went viral in the sports world, as the former dominated the latter in a 57-4 matchup. It was clear that Macula and his coaching staff outplayed the media participants in all areas of the game, but that was not why they decided to fix the match.

Noah Dalzell, who covers the Celtics for SB Nation’s CelticsBlog, reflected on the experience during her interview with ESPN’s Vibe Check on Friday. She described playing in the game as a “dream come true” and highlighted her opportunities to guard Macula.

“This is so cool to be able to compete with someone like him who I’ve only ever seen from the perspective of coaching on the sideline. And then, as you can see on this video later, we played a media vs. media game, so we still enjoyed it, but for me it was just a dream come true. As someone who grew up in Boston, grew up in Boston all the time. To compete was just amazing,” Dalzell said.

“(Macula) doesn’t treat all members of the media the same, like he understands that we’re all different and he’s established different relationships with each of us. So this was an opportunity to kind of see the more informal side of him that the players know, that members of the organization know.”

I made my ESPN debut 🤠

(And you can probably guess what) pic.twitter.com/M3PDrKsiKes

— Noah Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzell) October 17, 2025

What’s next for Joe Mazzula, Celtics

The conflict between the coach and the media was unprecedented in the NBA world. Joe Mazzula broke that silence with a viral, fun and bonding moment between him and the coaching staff with Celtics reporters.

Such moments are rare in life, especially between sports teams and the media. Professionalism often keeps them at a distance, but it was clear that there were opportunities for both sides to understand each other more clearly. That’s something Mazzulla understood well, making this match memorable for all the right reasons.

Meanwhile, Macula and the Celtics have completed their preseason schedule as they prepare for the 2025-26 regular season. They will be at home when they host the New York Knicks on October 22nd at 7:30pm ET.