Brown explains Celtics' killer whale mentality on "Hot Ones"

BOSTON -- Jaylen Brown and the Celtics barely broke a sweat on their way to an NBA title last season. The NBA Finals MVP dealt with a lot more perspirations when he appeared on the YouTube series "Hot Ones."

Brown answered some great questions while downing chicken wings with host Sean Evans in the latest episode of the popular internet series, which hit YouTube on Wednesday. He even made it all the way to the end of the hot sauce gauntlet, though he fittingly started to feel the heat around sauce No. 7 -- matching his jersey number.

But Boston's run to an NBA championship last season had Brown well-prepared for his guest appearance. Despite the sauces getting progressively spicier, Brown was calm and cool throughout. He discussed the team's mindset heading into the new season, now that the Celtics have gone from the hunters to the hunted as defending champs.

"I think the pressure and the expectation level needs to be raised," said Brown. "Human nature kind of seeps in once you win and makes you kind of relax. Complacency -- we've got to fight that."

Celtics players aren't going to let that happen. And even if there is a smidgen of complacency among the group, Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla will be there to stomp it out.

"One of coach Mazzulla's favorite quotes is like, 'There's no such thing as a foul. You either die or you don't,'" Brown said with a chuckle.

Classic Mazzulla. But that wasn't even the best Mazzullaism that Brown shared on the show.  Brown explained how Mazzulla wanted the Celtics to emulate killer whales on offense.

"He just has a bunch of like quotes and mentality. One of the things he's coined is like, we call our offense the 'killer whale offense' and we attack seals," explained Brown. "We just study how killer whales attack as a unit, and we built our offense off that."

As wild as it sounds, it worked for Boston. The Celtics led the league in offensive efficiency in 2023, and their 122.2 points per 100 possessions during the regular season was the highest in NBA history.

Mazzulla certainly has a different and unique approach from other coaches in the NBA. But the Celtics have completely bought in to his mindset.

"Joe definitely has a bunch of crazy stuff," said Brown. "But there's a method to his madness and it obviously works."

Brown also said that the Celtics will win back-to-back titles as long as the team stays healthy. Check out the full episode of "Hot Ones" featuring Jaylen Brown here .