Celtics’ Jordan Walsh gets an unusual assignment with Paul George

Joe Mazzulla looked at Jordan Walsh and asked him to explain the Celtics’ standard to Paul George.

Yes, that Paul George.

Walsh told John Karalis of Celtics on SI that he and George were on the same side during a drill when Mazzulla told him to speak up. Walsh wondered if his coach really wanted him to mentor a nine-time All-Star. Apparently, he did.

“I don’t know if I could tell him something that he doesn’t already know,” Walsh said. But he tried to bring George into the team’s culture, and said George has embraced it.

That little exchange tells you something about Mazzulla’s camp. He wants his players talking to one another, regardless of who has the bigger name or longer résumé.

He also knows everyone gets along in October. “No one’s gotten benched,” Mazzulla said while discussing how teams discover their chemistry. Wait until somebody loses minutes or the Celtics hit a rough stretch. That’s when all this togetherness gets tested.

Boston even held a team stretching and yoga session after arriving in South Carolina. Payton Pritchard said he hadn’t always participated when it was optional, but liked doing it with everyone.

Will 15 minutes of yoga make the Celtics better? Probably not by itself. Walsh feeling comfortable enough to speak to George during a bad drill might. Mazzulla appears intent on making that sort of conversation ordinary before the games start counting.