Michael Jordan has never needed much motivation to chase another win. He stepped away from basketball after the first three-peat, came back after about 17 months, and immediately looked like himself again. That mentality has not disappeared. And this summer, the six-time NBA champion apparently had no problem sharing the secret behind it with the Celtics head coach.

For the second straight season, Boston enters the Eastern Conference race without being the favorite. The Celtics finished second in the East at 56-26 last season, but that regular-season success quickly became an afterthought. Philadelphia stunned Boston 4-3 in the first round, winning Game 7 at TD Garden. Now Joe Mazzulla has to reset his team and find another source of hunger.

According to former Celtics champion Brian Scalabrine, the Celtics spent time with Jordan and Phil Jackson this summer.

“Jordan told Joe, ‘the reason why I kept winning is because I acted like I never won, and if you act like you’ve never done anything, then you are hungry to continue to get it.’ And he said, like, Jordan was like that,” Scalabrine stressed that the information was secondhand on SiriusXM NBA Radio. ” That was his message to Joe.”

Michael Jordan’s own journey perfectly encapsulates his message. He had already conquered almost everything before the 1996 playoffs. Jordan had returned from his first retirement and still averaged 31.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 2.3 steals during those playoffs. Yet the 1995 postseason ended with Chicago losing the series 4-2 to the Orlando Magic in the second round. It motivated him even more.

“Each time I step on the basketball court, I have a motivation either to prove something to myself or to prove something to you or to the other team,” Jordan told SLAM Magazine. I don’t like to lose. This team doesn’t like to lose. That’s motivation within itself. It’s a definite and a don’t. Either way, you don’t want to lose, and that’s the motivation.”

The result was one of the greatest stretches in NBA history. Chicago won 72 games in 1995-96 and captured the championship, beginning Michael Jordan’s second three-peat. He retired again after the 1998 season, leaving the league with six championships. That same idea appears to resonate with Mazzulla.

“To be honest with you, you’ve used that word like five times, and it makes me more and more uncomfortable.” During an appearance on Champion Mindset with Daniel Cormier, the Celtics coach pushed back when Cormier repeatedly described him as a champion. “Because I don’t know if I view myself. But to me, the mindset is having a clear understanding that you’re a part of something bigger than yourself.”

For Joe Mazzulla, that could matter even more entering this season, as we are just a week away from the 2026-27 training camp. Boston is coming off a 56-win campaign, yet the Celtics were eliminated before reaching the conference semifinals. The Eastern Conference has also changed dramatically. Philadelphia added LeBron James and Jaylen Brown, while the Knicks enter the season as defending champions.

Boston now has to prove that last year’s regular-season success was more than a temporary high point. Michael Jordan’s message was to avoid allowing past success to become an excuse to relax. The same mentality has shown up outside basketball, too. Earlier this year, Denny Hamlin recalled MJ challenging him after a difficult 2025 season.

“I never forget what Michael said. During the offseason, when he addressed 23XI Racing, he said, ‘What I’m interested to see is what Denny does after what happened in Phoenix. You either pick yourself up and respond, or you fold. We’ll find out.’ Well, he’s finding out.”

The results show how much consistency Hamlin has brought into 2026. Through 29 NASCAR Cup Series races, he leads the series in top-15 finishes. Mazzulla now has his own Jordan message.

For a Celtics team trying to turn another strong regular season into a deeper playoff run, that mindset could shape everything from the opening night forward.