Joe Mazzulla is now the youngest coach to win his first NBA title as Celtics’ coach. He took the franchise to its 18th title, and won an NBA championship at 35 years and 353 days to set a new record.
Even before he won the title, his own players, who seem to absolutely adore him, gave him a lot of interesting names. In addition, they are meant with the utmost respect, particularly given that those players and everyone else must now refer to Mazzulla in a different way.
The head coach of the world’s best NBA team is a 35-year-old man whose only head coaching experience was at the NCAA Division II level before he took over for the Celtics in the fall of 2022.
Boston wrapped up the NBA title on Monday June 17, beating the Dallas Nonconformists 106-88 to polish off a five-game roll through the finals and secure the group’s record eighteenth title.
Mazzulla — at 35 years and 353 days old when the Celtics dominated Match 6 — became the 10th youngest coach to bring home a championship and the most youthful since Bill Russell won one with Boston as player/coach in 1969.
Since 1970, he is the youngest coach to come out on top for a NBA championship, outperforming Hall of Famer Pat Riley, who held the record in the wake of leading the Lakers to the title in 1982 at 37 years and 80 days old.
Counting the end of the season games, Mazzulla’s record is 148-54 — a .729 winning rate. That is the best record among all NBA coaches with at least 200 games under their belt.
“There’s nothing better than representing the Celtics,” Mazzulla said, “and being part of history.”
“The thing you just can’t take for granted in the game today is a coach’s greatest gift is a group of guys that want to be coached, want to be led, that also empower themselves,” Mazzulla said earlier in the series. “So, I think at the end of the day, just appreciate the fact that we have an environment where learning and coaching is important, and getting better and developing is important. You can’t be a good coach if your players don’t let you.”
He’s the 37th coach in NBA history to bring home a championship and the seventh from the Celtics’ seat, joining Red Auerbach, Bill Russell, Tom Heinsohn, Bill Fitch, K.C. Jones and Doc Rivers.
“He’s really himself. He’s like authentic to himself. We all appreciate that,” Celtics guard Payton Pritchard said. “He’s not trying to be somebody he’s not. So, I think that’s kind of like the sicko side of it. He’s different, but we respect that. Then the basketball genius, you can learn a lot from him as to how he sees the offensive side of things, the play calling, the game management, all that. He’s elite in that. I’ve personally learned a lot from him, and I think our whole group has.”
Alex Cora, the manager of the Boston Red Sox, makes no secret that he believes the Celtics are going to be enjoying success for a while. He’s close with Brad Stevens, the front-office mastermind of the team, and has gotten to know Mazzulla somewhat well since he took over as coach. The respect he has for Mazzulla is clear.
It’s not like Mazzulla struggled in Year 1 after being shoved into the job unexpectedly following the scandal that led to the Celtics parting ways with Ime Udoka; the Celtics did make Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals last season. Cora just thinks things were more suited to Mazzulla’s needs in Year 2, such as bringing in assistants like Charles Lee (the next coach of the Charlotte Hornets) and Sam Cassell.
Mazzulla’s path to the NBA mountaintop could easily be described as non-traditional, and not just for the circumstances under which he got the job as Udoka’s replacement.
Mazzulla’s only previous experience as a head coach before taking over the Celtics was a two-year stint at Fairmont State in West Virginia, where he went 43-17 and made the NCAA Tournament in his second season.
A native New Englander from Rhode Island, Mazzulla played at West Virginia, was an assistant for the Celtics’ G League team before taking over at Fairmont State, and then got hired by the Celtics again in June 2019 to be part of Stevens’ coaching staff.
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