MILWAUKEE — Mike Conley didn’t hear from his coach that he was starting in Sunday’s game.
He heard it from the very Celtics teammates who picked him.
The 39-year-old point guard, in his 20th NBA season, got his first start of the year against the Milwaukee Bucks after Joe Mazzulla handed the decision to Jayson Tatum and Derrick White, Conley exclusively told CelticsBlog late Sunday night outside the visiting locker room.
The two Celtics veterans decided that Conley, who had barely played through Boston’s
first 9 games of the season, had earned the opportunity with his strong fourth-quarter play against the Charlotte Hornets.
“I heard it from D-White and JT,” Conley said after the team’s 117-97 win over the Bucks. “They were like, ‘Hey, you’re starting in Milwaukee.’ I was like, ‘What?'”
Joe Mazzulla asked the players to decide who should start
Prior to Sunday, Conley had played a total of 22 minutes all season.
So when Tatum and White approached him after Boston’s blowout win over the Hornets on Friday, he didn’t take them seriously.
“They looked at me after the Charlotte game. They’re like, ‘So you want to start next game?'” Conley said. “I’m just like, ‘What are you talking about?’ It’s not really on my radar at the moment, so I thought they were joking, honestly.”
But they weren’t.
Conley had played well in his fourth-quarter stint against the Hornets, and Mazzulla and the team appreciated his ball pressure.
“I thought Mike did a great job getting us off to a [good] start in the fourth quarter against Charlotte with his ball pressure, with his defensive activity for us,” Mazzulla said. “And I wanted that same thing to start the game.”
But Mazzulla, who has openly stressed player empowerment all season long, wanted to give the players a chance to decide.
On Sunday morning, Mazzulla walked into the Celtics’ team meeting and asked the room who should start; Jordan Walsh started in 6 of the Celtics’ first 9 games, while Hugo Gonzalez got the chance in three of them.
“He was like, ‘So who’s starting?'” Conley recalled. “He left it up to his players. And JT is like, ‘Mike, me…,’ and gave the starting lineup. I’m like, it’s real.”
That meant Conley, White, Tatum, Paul George, and Neemias Queta started against the Bucks.
Conley said he wasn’t nervous — he’s started for most of his career, after all —but it was his first time sharing the floor with Tatum and George, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
“It was the first time literally stepping on the court with them,” he said. “It was a lot of fun, just to get out there and get some run and play in a competitive atmosphere.”
The Celtics didn’t get off to a great start on Sunday night; Bucks forward Kyle Kuzma opened 6-of-10 for 16 first-quarter points, and the Celtics trailed by as many as 14 in the opening frame.
But Mazzulla didn’t attribute the slow start to Conley’s play.
“I thought his minutes were great,” Mazzulla said, adding that the Celtics missed several layups that helped put them in the hole.
Despite the slow start, the Celtics responded with a 33-18 second quarter, headlined by 16 points from a scorching-hot Paul George. They ultimately pulled away for a 117-97 win, improving to an 8-2 record on the season.
Postgame, Mazzulla downplayed the importance of who starts, as he has throughout much of his tenure as head coach.
“At the end of the day, the starting lineup is one piece of the 15 to 20 lineups that we play in the game,” Mazzulla said. “All the lineups matter.”
Mike Conley has never experienced this level of player empowerment
In 20 seasons in the NBA, Conley said, he had never seen players get a say in who starts or take on the kinds of off-court responsibilities that Celtics players have this season.
“This is the first place,” he said. “Our players do scouts. We do film sessions. We have so much empowerment from Joe, and I think it’s just a unique atmosphere and culture built around that. So, that’s just another extension of it.”
Conley said the team has handled the constantly changing lineups well because everyone keeps the team’s success front and center.
“Everybody, Jordan Walsh to Hugo, whoever started prior games, nobody cares,” he said. “Everybody just goes out there and supports each other, and that’s cool.”
While all the players have had the chance to take on more significant responsibilities in film and scouting, perhaps no player has taken on more than Conley.
“I’ve got a lot to give, with my experience and things I’ve been through, and how I see and read the game maybe differently than some other players,” Conley said. “So I try to give that to as many guys as I can, and try to prepare them and give them options, and have them see things through my eyes a couple times throughout the games. And to see them go out there and execute is pretty cool. And I know Joe supports me in that, so he gives me the freedom to pull a guy to the side, or tell him to do this or that, or change something up, or even tell Joe to do something different. So it’s a unique, unique spot, and then also being able to play too — it’s pretty cool.”
As his coaching responsibilities grow, Conley works to stay ready to play
During training camp, Conley told CelticsBlog that he knew his on-court role would be inconsistent, and that some nights he’d play and some nights he wouldn’t.
“It’s part of the job at this stage of my career,” he told CelticsBlog at training camp in Charleston. “I understand it. I understand there’s going to be a lot of times where I don’t play. There’s going to be some times where I’m needed. There are other times where I’m just needed to be the voice for a big stretch of the season. Being comfortable with that, and being able to own that, is my role and my job.”
What has surprised him, however, is that the Stay-Ready bench role has actually made him expend more energy, not less.
“You’re not just relaxing and chilling,” he said. “You’re actually working harder than you probably ever have, because you never know when your number is going to be called. Your wheels have to be turning, your brain has to be on.”
Mazzulla said he’s been impressed with Conley’s minutes on the court.
“There’s been times where he just comes in off the bench, he gets a shot right away,” he said. “His defensive presence has been great. So I think that’s just as important, because he still takes pride in playing. That’s great to see at this stage of his career.”
Still, Conley’s off-court impact might be his most profound contribution to the team. On Sunday, Mazzulla called Conley “an extension of the coaching staff”, and said he’s made a concerted effort to learn from him.
“He has 20 years of experience, and I’m going to pick his brain just as much as the players are,” Mazzulla said. “He’s played for great coaches, had great teammates. We all just need to be able to take from his wisdom.”
Conley has run film sessions and handled part of the scouting and defensive game-planning for the Celtics’ game against the Orlando Magic last week, in which they held the Magic to just 97 points. When he signed in Boston, he knew he’d be expected to help lead in the locker room.
“I knew that I’d obviously be a voice and a vet leader and all that stuff,” Conley said. “But to the extent of running film sessions, picking out clips, stuff like that — I didn’t know that was going to be part of the job description.“
But he’s loved every minute of it.
“It’s something I think is unique and really cool about being here,” he said. “And, I welcome it the rest of the year.”
Asked whether this season’s unique experience has pointed toward coaching, Conley laughed.
“I always tell them, I don’t know if I can coach the young guys, man. Y’all run me in circles,” he said. “But I’ll never shut the door on it.”
For now, he’s enjoying the unique opportunity to be a key mind on one of the NBA’s top teams and a rare active player who can take on real coaching responsibilities.
Oh, and the occasional start.
“Hopefully I continue to get better at it,” Conley said, “and continue to bridge that gap of player and coach and teammate.”
