BOSTON — Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has deflected most questions when it comes to the NBA’s Coach of the Year award. He’s a finalist for the annual honor, along with the Pistons’ J.B. Bickerstaff and the Spurs’ Mitch Johnson. Mazzulla has even gone as far as to call it a “stupid award” earlier this season.
The C’s went 56-26 on the season, surpassing “gap year” expectations to earn the East’s No. 2 seed. Mazzulla was a huge part of that, though he points out he didn’t make a bucket and all the praise should go to the players. But the Celtics themselves believe Mazzulla should win the award.
“I don’t think he’s changed much since I met him, and I that he doesn’t like the attention on him and making it about himself,” Derrick White said. “Obviously he’s done an amazing job this year, and when he wins, it would definitely be well-deserved.”
Payton Pritchard pointed out how Mazzulla sets the standard for the organization, then everyone follows his lead. So even though he isn’t necessarily scoring or putting his body on the line like the players, Mazzulla and his staff are still crucial to Boston’s success this season.
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Mazzulla also gave a different interpretation of the award compared to other times he’s spoken about it. Instead of dismissing it altogether like he did earlier, Mazzulla spoke about how he wants the league to change it up.
“I would like to see that changed to staff or organization, for sure,” Mazzulla said. “I think those things are important. I think if it was Staff of the Year, it’s different, if it’s Organization of the Year. But at the end of the day, I haven’t made one basket all year. Our staff hasn’t made a basket. We haven’t got a block. We haven’t ran back on defense. We didn’t play a back-to-back. We didn’t have to play hurt.”
Even if Mazzulla doesn’t win the award, it’s clear he’s one of the best coaches in the NBA. He led the C’s to the 2024 NBA title in his second full season. But his work this year has impressed, guiding the Celtics to a top-2 seed in the playoffs despite an overhauled roster and no Jayson Tatum for the majority of the season.
“Everybody just comes in and it doesn’t matter if it’s training staff, weight room,” Pritchard said. “Everybody knows their job and they come in on a high level and they produce every day. Even like the player development staff, they’re on-court probably more than us working their butt off. It definitely starts with Joe and the expectations he has and the standard that he holds people to.”
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