Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla calls himself a basketball junky.
He’s obsessed with the game and constantly looking for ways to innovate.
That’s why it’s not much of a surprise to see that he doesn’t want the game to stop.
Talking to Zo and Bertrand, the NBA champion coach claimed that he would get rid of halftime if it were up to him (via Legion Hoops):
“If it was up to me, I wish we would ban halftime. I can’t stand halftime. I just don’t understand it. I guess I do from a business standpoint, but I hate it. It’s useless,” he said.
Of course, the league would likely never agree to do such a thing, given how much money goes to advertising during halftime.
Joe Mazzulla wants the NBA to ban halftime:
“If it was up to me, I wish we would ban halftime. I can’t stand halftime. I just don’t understand it. I guess I do from a business standpoint, but I hate it. It’s useless.”
(via @ZoandBertrand) pic.twitter.com/1ZdyV2XSd9
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) February 15, 2025
Also, it’s not like the players don’t need to get a breather.
More than that, halftime allows coaches and teams to make sound adjustments for the final 24 minutes of the game.
Mazzulla once proposed that the league should allow players to fistfight as the NHL does, so this isn’t even his wildest or more revolutionary idea about how to make the game better.
Some fans have complained about how long NBA games can be during the final couple of minutes of close games.
All the fouling, clock-stopping, play-reviewing and whatnot can make the final two minutes take half an hour.
Even so, that’s just the dynamics of the game.
It’s getting harder to maintain people’s attention during today’s over-stimulated social media era, and all sports leagues are trying to make the game faster and more dynamic to keep the fans engaged.
Then again, sometimes, there’s no need to overthink things.
Pro basketball is played in four quarters and with halftime.
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