Before the Celtics and Nuggets tipped off Tuesday night, Joe Mazzulla shared his thoughts on the dismissal of one of his Boston coaching counterparts.

The Patriots fired head coach Jerod Mayo on Sunday less than a year after promoting him to replace Bill Belichick. Mazzulla, who forged a relationship with Mayo while both were assistant coaches, called the move an unfortunate reality of their profession.

“I think the first part is you don’t realize the impact that it has on the assistants, on their families, on the kids,” The Celtics’ third-year head coach told reporters in Denver. “To me, it’s bigger than just the head coach. You have assistants that believe in the head coach; you have assistants that move their families there. So there are people that are impacted by it.

“Second piece is, like you said, we’re hired to get fired. You enjoy it for as long as you can, and after that, that’s it. It’s over.”

Mayo lasted just one 4-13 season in the top job in Foxboro, with Patriots owner Robert Kraft admitting Monday that he promoted the 38-year-old before Mayo was ready.

Mazzulla has visited Gillette Stadium during the Celtics’ offseason and sat in on defensive meetings when Mayo was the Patriots’ linebackers coach. He said those visits helped him draw parallels between disguised coverages in football and the Celtics’ defensive schemes.

“I’ve learned from (Mayo) relationship management is important, communication is important, and just being innovative in how you go about it,” Mazzulla said in September. “There’s never one way of doing it, so it’s good seeing him in his environment being able to learn from that.”