Pep Guardiola watched the NBA Finals from the stands rather than the sidelines on Thursday night.
The Manchester City manager seemed to be enjoying his time off from the Premier League after his team made history by winning their fourth consecutive title.
The Spaniard was at TD Garden for Game 1 of the NBA Finals between the Boston Celtics and the Dallas Mavericks.
And it was clear who Guardiola was pulling for because he wore a Celtics hoodie while sitting courtside.
The Spaniard has already discussed how he went to the realms of tennis and basketball to learn how to better his own teams.
‘Incredible athletes, [Roger] Federer, [Novak] Djokovic, [Rafa] Nadal,’ Guardiola said.
‘The biggest dynasties in the NBA . It’s not easy in the NBA to have a team like the Chicago Bulls with [Michael] Jordan. I’m not comparing with that, don’t misunderstand me. The NBA has a lot of clubs with two or three in a row.’
Guardiola was photographed conversing with Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla on Wednesday at the TD Garden, and the two exchanged jerseys.
Mazzulla, 35, is the youngest head coach to reach the NBA Finals since Bill Russell, with his team ready to face the Dallas Mavericks.
On the eve of the game, the basketball coach was joined on the court at TD Garden by Guardiola, who was deep in conversation with the American.
The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager, who has won six Premier League titles and three Champions Leagues in his coaching career, appeared to make an impassioned motion at the coach with his hands.
We’ve seen the Spaniard do similar things with his players during the 2023-24 season, most notably giving a passionate coaching talk to Jack Grealish following City’s 0-0 stalemate with Arsenal.
While numerous members of his team are preparing to travel to Germany for this summer’s European Championship, Guardiola has flown to America to hook up with Mazzulla, whom he welcomed to the Etihad Campus in February.
On that day, Guardiola was observed conversing with Mazzulla on City’s training pitch, with the Premier League football manager appearing to pass on information to the basketball coach.
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Guardiola (right) appeared to meet with Mazzulla (left) at the TD Garden ahead of Boston Celtics’ NBA Finals opening match
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Mazzulla (pictured) is the youngest coach to ever feature in the NBA Finals since Bill Russell
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The Boston Celtics coach (right) met with Pep Guardiola (left) at City’s training base in February
A week later, Mazzulla, a big football fan, told The Athletic that Guardiola was ‘the best coach at any level in sport.’
‘That is what the game of basketball is about, to me, and what counterattacking in soccer is about,’ he told the outlet when speaking on how he wants to deploy the same philosophies on his team as Guardiola delivers to Man City.
‘So I study a lot of Man City. I study Pep a lot. I think he’s the best coach at any level, in any sport. It’s had a huge influence (on me).’
This week, they were also photographed exchanging team shirts, with Guardiola handing out a green Celtics jersey.