Sad report: Joe Mazzulla shed tears as the Boston Celtics introduced a new coach to the team.
On Thursday, the Boston Celtics made Joe Mazzulla their full-time head coach, removing the interim tag he had worn since replacing Ime Udoka earlier this season.
Udoka was initially suspended for a year before training camp for having an inappropriate relationship with a lady in the organization. Mazzulla, 34, was an assistant to Udoka last season and will now replace his former boss, who will not return. Mazzulla is the NBA’s youngest head coach.
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“As he has shown, Joe is a very talented coach and leader,” Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said in a statement. “He has a rare capacity to rally a group around a goal. We are grateful for the effort he has put in to get us here, and we are thrilled that he has agreed to lead us forward.”
The Celtics defeated the Pistons 127-109 on Wednesday night, and they lead the Eastern Conference with a 42-17 record into the All-Star break. Mazzulla and the Celtics’ assistants will coach Team Giannis, which will be led by Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, in the game on Saturday in Salt Lake City. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were both selected for the All-Star team.
Mazzulla, of Johnston, Rhode Island, was named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month for games played in October and November after leading the team to a league-best 18-4 record (.818).
Udoka, a longtime assistant in his first NBA head coaching job, guided Boston to a 51-31 record last season, including a 26-6 mark in the final 32 games. On their road to the NBA Finals, the Celtics defeated Brooklyn, Milwaukee, and Miami before losing in six games to the Golden State Warriors.
However, before training camp, the Celtics suspended Udoka for the whole season due to what two sources familiar with the situation described as an inappropriate relationship with a member of the organization. The people talked to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the team did not make that information public.
Despite what Mazzulla and the team have acknowledged as unique circumstances, Boston has emerged from that preseason cloud with the NBA’s top record and a team that appears capable of capitalizing on its current championship opportunity.
“All things considered, everything that we’ve gone through this season as a team with coaching changes and guys getting injured, missing games, and being in and out of the lineup. … Overall, it’s been a hell of a start,” Tatum said after the Pistons’ victory.
