Boston Celtics
“It really helps you kind of test your processes that you think are efficient.”
Joe Mazzulla said that he uses AI to help with his coaching duties. AP Photo/Charles Krupa
Joe Mazzulla has garnered a reputation around the league for his intense attitude, viral soundbites, and his love of both combat sports and “The Town.”
But the Celtics head coach has also routinely harped on his analytical approach to basketball strategy — as evidenced by Boston’s embrace of the 3-point shot since he took the helm of the team in 2022.
Still, Mazzulla raised a few eyebrows last week when he revealed on his weekly appearance with 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak and Bertrand” that he uses Claude, Anthropic’s AI tool, to help him in his coaching efforts.
Speaking with the media last week, Mazzulla was asked to elaborate on his usage of AI and how he implements it in his daily coaching tasks.
“I think it’s more just helping organize, helping become more efficient, helping understanding,” Mazzulla said. “I really use it for just conversation and riffs on, like, ‘OK, here’s what I’m wrestling with.’ What does this look like from a psychological perspective? What is the research and the data? Can you quickly get just so much research and data on things? Are you verbalizing things? Can they be verbalized in a much more efficient way? Like I talked about, practice planning.
“It really helps you kind of test your processes that you think are efficient. Like our halftime process — is that really the most efficient way to watch film getting ready for the second half? Is our pregame process the most efficient way to make sure our guys have retention of the game plan and what we need them to do, and they’re in the right space mentally and psychologically?”
Mazzulla isn’t exactly an outlier when it comes to embracing AI in professional sports.
In June 2025, former Falcons and Patriots executive Thomas Dimitroff estimated that 75 percent of NFL teams were using artificial intelligence in some capacity to help with their weekly preparation.
During the 2026 MLB season, the league cracked down on teams for using dugout iPads to access generative AI during games.
“According to a commissioner’s office memo obtained by The Athletic, teams were pushing the boundaries of guidelines governing the use of technology by ‘in many cases” installing custom apps that expanded the use of the iPads “beyond their originally intended purpose to include recommendations regarding substitutions, pitch calling, and other in-game decisions traditionally made by players and coaches,’” The Athletic’s Eno Sarris wrote in July.
For Mazzulla, utilizing AI has had him rethinking more than just his approach to coaching — as he’s also augmented his thought process around how players best retain information during film sessions, as well as how basketball strategy compares and contrasts with other sports like soccer and handball.
“I think for me, it’s like, OK, as a coach, you develop these processes, and you develop these rituals and these things that you think give you the best chance to win,” Mazzulla said. “And I think a platform like that tests your efficiency on, like, is this really the best? Like, how we watch film on a practice day.
“Is the way we watch film, the template of each clip, does that represent the best opportunity to build retention and build understanding? What does it look like to have the most efficient film session that you can? What type of questions are you asking when you’re going through film? Do I ask the right questions to check for understanding, to build retention?
“So I think it just really tests your processes. You may think that you’re doing something the right way, but there’s definitely a more scientific, a more efficient way of going about how to do things, and I think that just gives us a platform that allows you to do it.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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