Joe Mazzulla was placed on the league’s coaching hot seat upon the Boston Celtics’ lopsided performances last postseason, most especially on their nail-biting Conference Finals bout against the Miami Heat. But after all, past reports of potential dismissal starring him are baseless in nature according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
Per Windhorst on his Monday report to “The Hoop Collective”, Mazzulla’s coaching security wasn’t even entirely shaky from the start as team president Brad Stevens is fully faithful and supportive of the command of his former coaching disciple.
“At the end of the season, there were a lot of people who thought Joe Mazzulla was in some level of trouble, to the point where Brad Stevens needed to say at his press conference interview that he is coming back,” Windhorst said, via Lauren Campbell of MassLive. “Not only was he never in trouble, Brad Stevens’ biggest moves as the president of the team has been to lean into more of the way Joe Mazzulla wants to play, which is high-volume three-point shooting and offense over defense.
“They are absolutely headlong in to the Mazzulla mindset. And the Mazzulla mindset is shaped by Brad Stevens, too,” he continued. “This is the way Stevens and Mazzulla want to play. And if they’ gonna go down, and if they’re gonna take a step back and if they’re gonna fail, just know that it was the two of them in alignment going forward.”
Stevens’ willingness to adapt to Mazzulla’s preferred play style can be easily shaded from the fact that he pulled the trigger this offseason and gave up the beloved Celtic in Marcus Smart for Kristaps Porzingis. Despite a key defensive identity loss from the Smart exit, Boston is unmoved and stands optimistic of what the Latvian star can bring to their table especially coming off a solid 2022-23 year wherein he averaged 23.2 points and 8.4 boards in 65 significant games of availability.
Mazzulla had a daunting rookie year adjusting as a top mentor since he took over in an interim position days before last year’s training camp opened up. The C’s notably suspended and eventually dismissed Ime Udoka following his workplace misconduct.
The fact that the 34-year-old coach shouldered a sudden pressuring burden of coaching responsibility, he even deserves more praise and acknowledgement especially from the Boston faithful for still carving an impressive campaign for the franchise which saw them posting a 57-25 regular season record and being just one win away back to the NBA Finals.
Though last season has been a rollercoaster ride for them, the Celtics got plenty of faith and optimism to enjoy as Mazzulla now has a full offseason of preparation and planning for the club as they move to accomplish their unfinished business of a championship run on the upcoming 2023-24 season.
