In this week’s episode of his own podcast “Road Trippin’ Show”, Richard Jefferson was brutally honest about Joe Mazzulla’s situation with the Celtics this upcoming campaign. The former Milwaukee star believes that even though the second-year coach was given the confidence to step up for another season leading the Boston roster, he assures that the front office will be watching his every move.
“He’s got be under a microscope,” the 2016 NBA champion claimed, to what his co-host Channing Frye agreed. Nevertheless, he had a much more visual description of the kind of pressure that Mazzulla will have during this next season.
“Trust me, I was in Boston,” Frye responded. “Microscope?! They up in his as*hole like this. Listen, don’t let him fart wrong. Gone!”
.@channingfrye has a very interesting way of explaining Joe Mazzulla’s situation with the Boston Celtics 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/tJuT8P7mnZ
— Road Trippin’ Show🎧 (@RoadTrippinPod) August 9, 2023
The truth is, if the Celtics would’ve had a terrible 2022/23 season, Joe would probably not be the squad’s coach heading into the new campaign, and Boston governor Wyc Grousbeck agrees.
In a recent interview with the “Boston Globe”, he admitted that he “would have thought about replacing” Mazzulla this offseason had he “done a poor job” in his first competition guiding the squad.
“He took us within one game of the best record in the league and then one game of being in the Finals, as a rookie coach,” Grousbeck explained. “So I’m comfortable and happy to have Joe as head coach.”
Let’s recap on the past to provide some context. Boston named the rookie trainer as an interim right before the start of last season after the club suspended Ime Udoka for the entire tournament following an investigation that accused him of breaching team policies.
It seems that Udoka, who took the Celtics to the NBA Finals in the 2021/22 season, had an intimate relationship with a female member of the staff and made “unwanted comments” to her, according to NBA insider Shams Charania.
By February of this year, Mazzulla finally was named permanent head coach after leading the league with a 42-17 start to his first regular season, and eventually ended it with a 57-25 mark. Even though the team didn’t make it to their second-consecutive NBA Finals, they were seconds away after a seven-game series against the Miami Heat.
Grousbeck explains why Mazzulla is currently the man for the job ahead of the 2022/23 campaign
As Boston came really close to winning yet another Eastern Conference Finals last season, Grousbeck further explained why Mazzulla’s championship mentality is what the club needs.
“We were in an interesting situation at the beginning of last season and Brad strongly recommended Joe for the job. And Brad feels even more strongly about him now, and I agree. Joe handled that initial transition, and eventually the entire season, incredibly well. He’s got world-class intensity, drive, and knowledge. He is fully committed to winning a championship with this group. It’s all he thinks about,” he claimed.
Check out why former player and analyst JJ Reddick also believes that the trainer is fully capable of leading the squad to another succesful competition:
“Every breath he takes is about making the Celtics better and doing a better job as a coach. He’s all-in,” Grousbeck added.
The Celtics have kept busy this summer, as they’ve traded in Kristaps Porzingis after a three-team deal that sent Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies. The team now expects to have Derrick White jump in as Boston’s starting point guard this next season and lead the squad next to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
