With only a handful of regular season games remaining, every contending team’s sole focus is on booking a playoff spot. But sometimes, basketball takes a backseat and more important things take priority. Tonight was one of those nights for Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla. As part of a league-wide initiative by team’s former assistant coach Scott Morrison, Mazzulla participated in Autism Acceptance Night to spread awareness about the condition.
He wore customized Nike sneakers with the word “Acceptance” printed on them. After the dominant win against the Suns, Mazzulla dove deeper into his participation in the special cause, making a shocking family revelation, “Yeah, I’m grateful that I get to do it. It’s for an important cause and you know there’s two close people in my life whose children have autism and the impact and just that it has on children and families.” Turns out, Joe’s loved ones have also gone through the struggles of raising an autistic child.
He continued, “Scott Morrison and John, and Max is my godson and so to be able to represent him and help him any way I can is you know it’s a great opportunity.” Yes, the shoes Joe wore were ideated by To The Max Foundation, a non-profit initiative by Morrison and his wife Susanne in honor of their son Max, who was diagnosed with autism three years ago. Moreover, this is not the first time Mazzulla has contributed in raising awareness. Last year, he wore similar Air Force 1s on Autism Acceptance Night with a rainbow infinity symbol printed on the sneaker. The symbol represents the neurodiversity paradigm and is also part of the logo of Scott Morrison’s foundation.
On Autism Acceptance Night, Joe Mazzulla is wearing customized sneakers to generate awareness and acceptance for individuals with autism.
The shoes were ideated by the To The Max Foundation, a nonprofit founded by former Celtics Assistant Coach Scott Morrison and his wife in… pic.twitter.com/eiMjQUje7h
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 5, 2025
Sure enough, Mazzulla was very vocal about it the last time as well, “This cause is important to me because it’s about children, it’s about people who are dealing with something that’s uncontrollable.” He also detailed his relationship with his Godson Max and Scott, “My relationship with Scott is love/hate. My relationship with his son is love. Max is my Godson, love him to death, grateful that Scott gave me that opportunity to be in his life.” Moreover, Mazzulla is not the only head coach participating in this wholesome cause.
Chris Finch joins Joe Mazzulla and other NBA coaches to support Scott Morrison’s initiative
Just like Mazzulla, Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch will also wear customized sneakers in support of Autism Acceptance Month. When Morrison started this initiative, he reached out to several coaches in the league. He said last year, “My wife and I wanted to do something just to start trying to contribute to autism acceptance. We reached out to eight to 10 head coaches that I had either a friendship with or had their contact information, and just sent them a letter with our proposal to wear these shoes in April.”
Obviously, knowing what it meant to Morrison’s family and the impact it could have in general, every coach agreed. Mazzulla was one of the first to do so. Of course, Chris Finch is also aware of the struggles a family goes through in such situations. That’s because one of the players on his roster, Joe Ingles, has a son Jacob who is autistic. Only a couple of weeks ago, Jacob watched his father play live for the first time and to make the moment even more special for the Ingles family, Finch put Joe in the starting lineup. So, there was no doubt about him participating in Morrison’s initiative.
Sure enough, Morrison is grateful for the support he has received from his peers, “It’s moving to see this campaign continue to gain momentum. The support we’ve received from NBA colleagues leaguewide has helped motivate us to organize this effort as an impactful way to generate resources that can support other individuals with autism and their families.” Surely, it shows a side of the NBA that usually goes unnoticed. Thoughts?
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