Joe Mazzulla on reports of the Celtics vibes being high at training camp "Every team you lead is the most together team right now. Because we haven't traveled. No one's gotten benched. No one's been on a losing streak. No one's gotten blamed in the media. No one's had to go stand in the corner for 10 minutes and not get the ball. So, you learn those things as the season goes on, and you just learn how to work through those things together. And you can't simulate those. It just comes with time. And so, right now I would say all 30 teams feel great about themselves, and we got to wait till adversity hits. And adversity is even a strong word. There's nothing really adverse about playing in the NBA. But we got to wait until stuff doesn't go your way, and then you got to figure out who we are and how we're going to be at our best." (Via @NoaDalzell)

Joe Mazzulla on the importance of building a culture that doesn’t depend solely on the head coach. “You don't want to be the sole person controlling the environment. You almost want it to run better when you're not around because that's a testament of the people.” If your culture only works when you’re watching, then you've merely just created compliance. The best environments are sustained by the people and shared ownership inside them. 📹: Verse Us Podcast

Joe Mazulla says the best coaches he had were just willing to be brutally honest “To me, they’re honest with you, whether you’re good or whether you suck. They're in it for the right reasons. To see kids get better. But they're honest with you on whether you're good or whether you suck.” “I remember I had a bad game in AAU and my coach came up to me and was like, ‘Man, you suck today.’ The guy you went against just kicked your ass, but… he’s going to make it one day and so are you.” “They’re able to be honest with you, but also give you the encouragement or the perspective that you need to go forward. They never let you settle being yourself.” “They hold you accountable to the person that you say you want to be or the person that they think you can become. That’s a space that many people aren’t willing to go to. At any level, that's what good coaches are.”

Mike Brown has been to seven NBA Finals with four different organizations. He’s coached LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Steph Curry, Tim Duncan, Kevin Durant, and Jalen Brunson. When asked what all championship teams have in common, his answer had nothing to do with those nuclear talents. “The commonality they all had is they all sacrificed for one another. They were all connected. They all had a competitive spirit. And there was a high level of belief... Not just in the process, but in each other.” He was able to boil down years of success in different places to 4 common traits: 🩸 Sacrifice 🎮 Connectivity ⚠️ Ownership ✝️ Belief Championship teams don't win solely because they have the best player. They create a championship environment from ownership starting with the best player all the way to the last player on the bench. The entire organization is willing to surrender something for something bigger than themselves. You need good players, yes... But talent only determines your ceiling. Sacrifice determines your capacity to reach it.

“Most people don’t want be pushed that hard. They want to be pushed to their level of comfort. You need coaches that push you outside your comfort zone because that’s how you grow and that’s how you develop self confidence and self esteem. They push you to deal with failure."

🚨 PENGUIN SIGNING 🚨 We are excited to announce the signing of Oklahoma transfer Jeff Nwankwo for the 2026-27 season. 🔴 6-foot-6 | G 🔴 Played 24 games with the Sooners in 25-26 🔴 Averaged 18.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 2.0 apg and 1.9 spg in 23-24 at Cowley College #GoGuins

Mike D'Antoni tells a great story about Steve Nash getting outplayed by Jason Kidd, but the real lesson being Nash's ability to take radical ownership. "If things didn't go well, he wasn't looking to blame anybody else. He'd come in and say, 'Coach, I screwed this game up. I'll be better next game.' He always took responsibility." Accountability can sound very different coming from a coach than it does coming from your best player. When leaders in the locker room voluntarily raise their hand and say, "That one's on me," then you've created something every coach hopes for. A locker room where the standard is reinforced from within instead of just imposed from above. 📹: Win More, Live Better Podcast (Ep. 265)

Also, that's Cleveland's own EJ Farmer, who played at Toledo and Youngstown State, at #Cavs Summer League Training Camp this week.

LeBron James said he doesn't know when players started choosing individual workouts over playing 5-on-5 during the summer. LeBron James: Yeah, I don't know when that changed, um, that it was more beneficial to do the individual workouts over the five-on-five play through the summer. I don't know when that changed. Um, I don't know when, like the most important person in the summertime was the trainer and not the player. Steve Nash: Right. LeBron James: Like, the basketball trainer is the most important guy in the summer. I don't know when it shifted from like Steve Nash: You're a star in the gym? LeBron James: Yeah, yeah, I didn't know. I don't know when that dynamic shifted because, you know, we used to play, and a lot of my friends can attest to this. Like, even when I got in the NBA, you know, I built like a little basketball court in my backyard in Akron, you know, at my house. I would get nine other guys, and we would play in the summertime on a blacktop. Like, it well, we would play like twice, two to three times a week, you know, and just get up and run and feel like the demands of being outside and also the demands of another body like

Registration for our annual Youth Camp - June 15-17 - for boys and girls in grades K-6th is now open!!! To Register hit the link ⬇️ 🔗: mensbasketball.penguinscamps… #GoGuins

“But at the end of the day, for any great thing to happen, there has to be sacrifice.” nytimes.com/athletic/7293499…

"In a competitive environment, to remain the same is to regress.” -Bill Parcells

The biggest cheat code on the planet is the ability to be in a good mood regardless of what's going on in your life. Not letting external events dictate how you feel is a skill we can learn. If you can train yourself to be in a bad mood you can train yourself to be in a good one.

Your entire life will change when you realize your standards decide your future. Every time you let something slide, you train yourself to accept less. That’s how goals erode. That's how principles slip. Set your standards. Then hold the line. Especially when it’s hard.

Things said about LeBron James this season: “They should trade LeBron” “The team is worse with LeBron” “The on-off numbers are bad” “He’s not worth the money” “The relationship with the Lakers is broken” “The Lakers don’t need LeBron” “LeBron doesn’t care about winning” “LeBron doesn’t make anyone better” “LeBron doesn’t contribute to winning” He just led the Lakers to a playoff series win at 41 years old. You’ll never see this again.

THE KING BEATS FATHER TIME AGAIN ⏳ LeBron James adds another playoff series win to his accolades at age 41 👑

Marcus Smart 3 chargers, 1 weak side rotation block Winning Player

Logan, your dedication over the past two years as a GA made such a difference. Thank you for everything, and best wishes in your next chapter ❤️🐧 #GoGuins #Grit

Great players know the janitors really well.

Tevin Olison went OFF yesterday in Game 2 of the Czech Republic NBL Playoffs! The fourth year pro out of Youngstown State @YSUMensHoops went for a new pro career high of 36 points on an unreal 8/10 shooting from 3 (!!) as his Basket Brno team lost a tough one to Decin 98-89 to tie the series at 1-1. Amazing start to the series for Tevin! #OMS #TevinOlison