Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was fined $35,000 by the league for "aggressively pursuing and directing inappropriate language toward a game official," after Boston's 117-108 loss to the Chicago Bulls Thursday night.

The Boston Celtics have had to deal with a lot of different narratives from the media regarding Jayson Tatum over the last couple of years, with a lot of them being negative. This is despite the fact that Tatum was a first-team All-NBA performer a year ago when the Celtics won their 18th NBA championship.

Or at least that is the position being taken by some league analysts in light of their historic assaults from beyond the arc on a nearly nightly basis.

Joe Mazzulla’s Christmas greetings were costly. The NBA fined the Boston Celtics coach $35,000 on Saturday “for aggressively pursuing and directing inappropriate language toward a game official” at the end of his team’s loss to the Chicago Bulls on Thursday night.

The NBA announced on Saturday that Mazzulla was fined $35,000 for "aggressively pursuing and directing inappropriate language toward a game official" after the Celtics lost 108-117 to the Chicago Bulls. Once the buzzer sounded, Mazzulla went straight to the ref and could be seen yelling and pointing in anger.

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla shrugged off a tense interaction with a ref after their loss to Chicago on Thursday, claiming he was simply wishing the official a "Merry Christmas."

NEW YORK – Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has been fined $35,000 for aggressively pursuing and directing inappropriate language toward a game official, it was announced today by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations.

Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla was fined $35,000 by the NBA on Saturday "for aggressively pursuing and directing inappropriate

Both Joe Mazzulla and Jaylen Brown were furious with the officiating in Thursday night's Boston Celtics loss to the Chicago Bulls

On social media, theories and hot takes abound for the drop, ranging from too many three-pointers to the season being too long to streaming making it too difficult to find games. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla admitted Thursday that he’s part of the problem, as well, saying in part that he’d “rather watch something else.”

Joe Mazzulla was fined $35,000 for “aggressively pursuing and directing inappropriate language toward a game official” after Thursday’s Celtics loss.