The Boston Celtics officially have a new head coach. The franchise announced earlier this week that Joe Mazzulla got his interim tag removed and will be the Celtics’ permanent head coach moving forward.
Mazzulla was named interim head coach ahead of the 2022-23 NBA season, stepping in for suspended Ime Udoka. The 34-year-old coach did a great job since taking over and currently has the Celtics at the top of the Eastern Conference with a league-best 42-17 record. This convinced the organization that they made the right choice, prompting a decision to give Mazzulla the job on a full-time basis.
Explaining the timing of the decision, the team’s president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said that he wanted to avoid the “cloud of uncertainty” over the Celtics regarding Mazzulla’s status.
“Joe is a really good coach, and ultimately, he’s an outstanding leader. He’s done a great job right from the get-go of galvanizing the locker room around a mission, “ Stevens said. “We’re really excited about him leading us now and leading us into the future.”
Joe Mazzulla played college basketball at West Virginia and wanted to pursue a career as a player overseas after going undrafted in the 2011 NBA Draft. However, failing to find a suitable opportunity, Mazzulla turned to coaching. He started out as an assistant at Glenville State before eventually landing a head coaching job at NCAA Division II school Fairmont State in 2017.
Following a successful two seasons with Fairmont State, Mazzulla received an opportunity to join Stevens’ staff at the Celtics ahead of the 2019-20 season. When Stevens transitioned to a front office role, Mazzulla was his only full-time assistant to feature on Udoka’s staff as well.
