Above any other else, it was team president Brad Stevens who emerged as a devoted believer in Joe Mazzulla’s coaching wits, placing the former young assistant on the daunting responsibility of inheriting the coaching keys of the Boston Celtics that is well-prepared and geared up for a championship run in wake of the Ime Udoka offseason scandal.
And fast forward to April, Stevens still has that bright optimism for Mazzulla, as the rookie head coach is slated to enter his first playoff scene in his young career.
“Joe is a strength,” Stevens told reporters Sunday, per Khari Thompson of Boston.com. “He’s done a really good job. I understand because he’s new that the easiest thing to do is nitpick him, but he’s done a really good job. If he needs me, I’m here, but I trust him and I trust the staff, and they’ve all done a good job. I think our players would all second that.”
After taking over on an interim basis, Mazzulla carved his way to earning the entire organization’s trust and admiration, removing the said tag last February while being named as the Eastern Conference head coach of the 2023 All-Star Game in Salt Lake City.
He proceeded to guide the franchise to a 57-win regular season – a splendid accomplishment for the 34-year-old upon shouldering the heavy pressure of play-calling a veteran-laden, title-inspired Boston squad.
As the C’s are patiently waiting on who will emerge between the Miami Heat and the Atlanta Hawks as their competitors in the first-round bracket of this year’s playoffs, Stevens is loving the everyday progress of Mazzulla that keeps them believing that the basketball future of Beantown is bright.
“He was going to be really good,” Stevens said of Mazzulla. “That’s been pretty obvious for a long time. But he’s been consistent in his own approach. Win or lose, he comes back and works the next day. He wants to grow, wants to improve. He demands that of the team. I think he does a good job of picking what the emphasis needs to be in the big picture and also in those small moments, those snippets of games where something is waning a little.
“He does a good job of figuring that out and making that a priority to improve.”
