It seems the Los Angeles Clippers are not the only team in the NBA with key members of the organization tied to an investigation by the "Pablo Torres Finds Out" podcast, with the Boston Celtics and specifically head coach Joe Mazzulla being involved. Torre, the eponymous host of that Pulitzer Prize-winning show, and Keira Butler of Mother Jones, have been investigatingthe relationship between an organization called "Life Surge" and prominent spokespersons such as former University of Florida athlete Tim Tebow regarding allegations the latter has describedas "extremely serious."
Life Surge – described by our sister site the Gainesville Sun as a "a faith-based financial seminar organization" – faces allegationsthat they have a history of "preying
upon their followers' faith and financial insecurity" with aggressive sales tactics deployed on vulnerable people. Those tactics allegedly include pushingthem to take on debt in order to pay for wealth seminars they cannot otherwise afford and that have dubious records of success.
Enter Mazzulla, who, while not mentioned in the reporting, is listedas a spokesperson on the Life Surge website, with a speaking event in the area slated for this week that includes the Celtics coach.
It is unclear to what extent Mazzulla is aware of the allegations at present, as both the Boston Celtics and Life Surge declined to comment on the reports, the latter releasing a statementpushing back against the claims against them. Tebow, for his part, has elected to pause his ties to the organization while looking into the allegations.
"Honestly, I was at an anti-human trafficking conference yesterday, and the team shared with me when we were leaving as we were flying to Alabama for an event," saidthe Florida alum. "Kind of caught off guard with some of it, and that’s why we’re trying to understand more of the facts to really learn it."
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla listed as speaker for Pablo Torres Finds Out target org
