Joe Mazzulla had his interim coach tag removed on Thursday, as the Boston Celtics have named the 34 year old as the 19th head coach in franchise history. Mazzulla and the C’s have agreed on a contract extension as part of the promotion. He had been on the coaching staff since Brad Stevens hired him as an assistant in 2019.
Mazzulla replaced Ime Udoka in the preseason to serve on an interim basis. Udoka was suspended for an entire season due to an inappropriate relationship with another Boston Celtics co-worker last summer. It was revealed on Thursday after Mazzulla was named head coach that Udoka is no longer employed by the organization. Mazzulla said, “Ever since I’ve been here, even as an assistant, I’ve always felt their support, I’ve always felt their communication, I’ve always felt their honesty, so I always knew exactly where I stood. Even though it was an interim position, I knew exactly where I stood. I knew I would get a fair shake, an opportunity. I knew that I was going to be able to do the way that I thought to give you the best chance to be able to be successful because of that. Because of their standard and their communication and how they treated me as an assistant, I just felt comfortable regardless.”
“As he has shown, Joe is a very talented coach and leader,” said Stevens. “He has a unique ability to galvanize a room around a mission. We are thankful for the work he has done to help get us to this point, and excited that he has agreed to lead us into the future.” Mazzulla who has led the Celtics to an NBA best 42-17 record thus far, and on January 30th he was also announced as a head coach for the All-Star game in Salt Lake City, Utah this weekend. He will coach Team Giannis. Mazzulla becomes just the third first year head coach to helm an All-Star team, and the eighth Boston Celtics coach to receive the honor.
Story written by Chris Lessner
