When the Boston Celtics decided to suspend Ime Udoka just before the start of training camp for the 2022-23 season, many people wondered if Brad Stevens might return to the sidelines. Among them was Wyc Grousbeck, who briefly discussed the possibility with Stevens. However, Stevens had already decided, knowing he had a special talent in-house in then-34-year-old Joe Mazzulla.
“Joe is the best choice to [take over] by a long shot,” Stevens said when he introduced Mazzulla as the interim head coach in September 2022. “He’s an exceptionally sharp and talented person. I believe strongly in him, and his ability to lead people, his ability to galvanize a room and get behind them, and his ability to organize and understand all that comes with running a team during a season”.
Almost immediately, Stevens’ decision paid off. Mazzulla led the Celtics to an NBA-best 42-17 record at the All-Star break, prompting the Celtics to remove his interim tag and name the Rhode Island native the 19th head coach in franchise history.
“One of the things that’s pretty obvious and evident about Joe is he’s a really good coach, and he also is just an outstanding leader,” Stevens said after making the hiring official. “I think he’s done a great job right from the get-go of galvanizing the locker room around a mission.”
However, perceptions of Mazzulla shifted by the season’s end. Following a six-game series with Atlanta, a seven-game battle with Philadelphia, and a 0-3 deficit to Miami before losing in Game 7, many questioned if the decision to remove the interim tag had been premature and if the young head coach was in over his head. Nonetheless, Stevens stood by his guy.
“Was he perfect? Would he like to have some moments back? Every coach would,” Stevens said at his end-of-season press conference. “Even the coaches nobody talks about would. We all that have coached know how hard that is. At the same time, our players, our staff, and everybody around him believes in him, and we’ve got to do our best to support him going forward.”
Stevens emphasized the difficulty of the situation Mazzulla was thrown into, noting that he was named interim head coach just five days before the start of training camp while expressing a desire to add some experienced assistants around Mazzulla to support him – and that’s exactly what they did.
Under Stevens’ guidance, Mazzulla revamped the coaching staff by bringing in NBA champions Charles Lee and Sam Cassell. With an entire off-season to prepare and his own staff in place, Mazzulla seemed more at ease and left his mark from the jump, establishing a culture focused on “mindset.”
Stevens had long lauded Mazzulla’s leadership skills and ability to command a room, qualities that were evident from the first day of training camp to the Celtics celebrating Banner 18 covered in green and white confetti on the parquet floor.
“We all know Joe was thrown into the fire last year, and I felt like he did the best he could,” Al Horford said after the Celtics won the Finals. “But I just think this year, everything was different when we came in for workouts before training camp. He really, I felt like, put a sprint on everything, how he wanted it to be, how he wanted us to work, how he wanted us to carry ourselves, and how determined he wanted us to be. It started from there. That energy that he had translated to the assistant coaches, to us, to the training staff, everybody, and we just kind of followed suit.”
“I feel like this type of team is Joe Mazzulla ball. It’s defending and being gritty on offense. It’s being able to -- everybody be a threat on the court at the same time. And everything that he wanted to do, he was able to accomplish. He always knew when to push the buttons. He’s hard. He can be a little whacky sometimes. But that’s what we appreciate about him. He truly cares about us, and he cares about what it means to be a Celtic.”
Mazzulla was exactly what the Celtics needed—an outstanding coach who could command a room, and he did so in his unique way.
“Man, I love Joe Mazzulla so much,” Derrick White said. “Coming off the year I had, and he gets the job, and he’s like, You know what? I’m going to start you, which I wasn’t expecting. He was like, ‘I believe in you, and I trust in you. This is going to give you the confidence.’ And from that moment on, I think it’s changed my whole career. I’d do anything for him.”
Stevens’ fingerprints are all over Banner 18. He built a juggernaut by sticking with the Jays and bringing in Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday. But don’t overlook his patience and belief in Mazzulla.
“Everybody sets the temperature when they come in. Brad, giving me my start, hiring me, empowering me from day one as an assistant, and giving me some of the opportunities that he has. But also the way he carries himself,” Mazzulla said. “I’ve always had a lot of respect for how he went about coaching, how he kept family balance number one, how he treated people number one. That was always more important than whether there was a success or a failure. I think he spearheads the leadership, the temperature of the building, just as everybody else does.”
Stevens always saw something special in Mazzulla. When Udoka returned to Boston in January, he revealed that Stevens had influenced his decision to retain Mazzulla on his staff.
“I kept him and Tony Dobbins, and there were a few guys that were highly recommended, not only by the front office and the people that were here, but by the players as well, and I took, especially Marcus (Smart), Jaylen (Brown), Jayson (Tatum), Al (Horford), the veterans, I took heavily regarding who they liked and who they wanted to keep,” Udoka said.
“I didn’t know a ton coming in other than good recommendations from players and coaches or the front office, Brad (Stevens) specifically, and got to know him and see why he’s having success here.”
Through two seasons, Mazzulla has posted a 121-43 (.738) regular season record and a 27-12 (.692) postseason record and is the youngest coach to win the NBA Finals since Bill Russell in 1969.
Beyond the numbers, Mazzulla has earned the trust and respect of the Celtics’ locker room, fulfilling Stevens’ vision from day one.
“One thing where I truly do appreciate Joe, aside from being an excellent coach, is that I truly do believe that he cares about us, our team as individuals, obviously myself, and the conversations that we have,” Jayson Tatum said.
“He always, through the season, the summertime, obviously through this postseason, has had days where he’s called me, called me into his office. Not necessarily talk about X’s and O’s, but check on me as a person, and how I’m dealing with everything. That does mean a lot for somebody to take time out of his day to show that compassion or whatever. Just know that he’s there for me. That relationship between yourself and a coach is important. That’s something I truly value about the relationship that me and Joe have.”
If Banner 18 doesn't say it loud enough, Mazzulla was a home run hire by Stevens, who can rest assured his team is in good hands as long as Mazzulla is at the helm.
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