The Boston Celtics beat the Sacramento Kings, 120-106, on Thursday night. Jaylen Brown had 29 points, 10 rebounds and four assists before fouling out with just over two minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
Brown stepped in front of DeMar DeRozan and both players fell down as Brown slapped the ball away. A foul was immediately called on Brown. It was his sixth foul of the game so Joe Mazzulla challenged the call. Or at least that's why you might have assumed he challenged the call.
While watching the replay, NBC Sports Boston's Brian Scalabrine was immediately excited and said, "We get Billy Kennedy!" Scalabrine and play-by-play announcer Drew Carter then joked about Kennedy's replay review calls before they were ultimately disappointed by a very matter-of-fact explanation from the referee that confirmed Brown's foul.
Jaylen Brown is fouled out late in the 4th quarter vs. the Sacramento Kings (with replays).
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) January 2, 2026
The Celtics' coach's challenge was not successful to the surprise of Brian Scalabrine pic.twitter.com/aIxbbP01eq
After the game Mazzulla was asked about challenging the call and his only explanation was that he wanted to hear Billy Kennedy because "he does a really great challenge and we we're gonna do it anyway just to hear him deliver the challenge."
Joe Mazzulla on his late-game challenge of a block called on Jaylen Brown: "Really just kinda wanted to hear Billy Kennedy. He does a really great challenge, and we were gonna do it anyway just to kinda hear him deliver the challenge." pic.twitter.com/Pq1oQjSUJs
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) January 2, 2026
It seems we've finally found something in this world that brings joy to Joe Mazzulla.
Kennedy must have been fresh on the Celtics' minds because he worked their game against the Pacers and delivered one of his signature exaggerated challenge explanations.
NBA ref Bill Kennedy has the best explanations 😂 pic.twitter.com/XNaJVLOvNC
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 27, 2025
Carter and Scalabrine joked about that call from Kennedy while awaiting his latest decision and noted that people are starting to notice Kennedy's calls, though most people know this is nothing new.
In between Celtics games, Kennedy also worked the Grizzlies-76ers game on Tuesday and delivered another classic.
Más árbitros como Bill Kennedy. El tipo tiene estilo y carisma para arbitrar y de paso, no se roba el protagonismo cuando no debe. Jajajaja.
— “Compita” AG 🏈⚾️🏀⚽️🎞🎫 (@Compita_AG11) December 31, 2025
pic.twitter.com/PefitCkSYV
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Joe Mazzulla Challenged a Foul Call Just to Hear Referee Bill Kennedy Work the Mic.
