The Boston Celtics are in their third coach in three seasons, and the organization will not make another change.
On Thursday, Celtics team president Brad Stevens told reporters that Joe Mazzulla is the right man for the job after Boston’s Game 7 loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.
Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens watches the action while attending a college basketball game between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Boston College Eagles on February 22, 2023 at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. (Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
«Yes. I think it is,» Stevens said when asked if Mazzulla was the best head coach for the team to move on.
«He’s a great leader,» Stevens added. «He’ll only get better at anything he can learn this year because he’s constantly trying to learn. And he’s responsible. Those leadership qualities are hard to find.»
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Mazzulla became the Celtics’ head coach just days before the start of training camp after i am udoka he was suspended for the entire 2022-23 season for «violations of team policies.»
Mazzulla took over a team coming off an NBA Finals appearance in which Boston took the warriors of the golden state to six games.
Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla speaks to the media after a game against the Philadelphia 76ers during the Eastern Conference semifinals of the 2023 NBA Playoffs on May 14, 2023 at TD Garden from Boston. (Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
The Celtics began the season 21-5, finishing with the second seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
«I think when you consider the position he was pushed into and the overall accomplishments of the group, I think he did a very good job,» Stevens said of Mazzulla at the start of the news conference. «I mean, when you look at it, in the big picture, and having a team that was second in offense, second in defense, won 57 games and has a chance to go to the NBA Finals on your home court, there’s a lot direction and organization that goes into it. I think he did a good job.»
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Despite having the second-best record in the NBA, the Celtics struggled during the NBA Playoffs before finally falling to Miami.
Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla reacts during the second quarter of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat at TD Garden on May 29, 2023 in Boston. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
In the first round, Boston needed six games to defeat the Atlanta Hawks after blowing a double-digit fourth-quarter lead in Game 5.
Against the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round, Boston required a fourth-quarter comeback to steal Game 6 on the road before Jayson Tatum turned in a historic performance in Game 7.
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Boston then became the fourth team in NBA history to force a Game 7 after falling 0-3 in a series before being beaten at home Monday in the Eastern Conference finals.
The Celtics now enter an offseason with tough decisions ahead of them with grant williams about to enter restricted free agency and Jaylen Brown eligible for a supermax contract extension after being named second-team All-NBA.