Joe Mazzula made history after guiding the Boston Celtics to an 18th NBA Championship. His achievements have made him the winningest basketball head coach in NBA history. He’s also the youngest NBA coach since its merger with the American Basketball Association (ABA) to win the league since Joe Stydahar in 1951. One thing that makes Mazzulla stand out is his faith. He openly talks about it and that has trickled down the team. In this post, we look at the trajectory of his career.
Joe Mazzulla’s Early Life
Mazzula was born on 30 June 1988 in Johnston, Rhode Island. He studied at Bishop Hendricken High School and was part of the basketball team. Mazulla helped the team win three state championships and was part of the all-state first team. The coach has two younger siblings, Justin and Gianna Mazulla.
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Beginning of Professional Coaching Career
Mazulla attended West Virginia University, where he enjoyed more success. They won the 2007 National Invitation Tournament. However, a shoulder injury forced him to miss the 2008/09 season.
When he returned to the court, he was named the captain of the team and led them to the Final Four in 2010. The point guard scored a career-high of 17 points in the Elite Eight. In his senior year, he averaged 7.7 points, 4.2 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game. He finished his college career with 700 points and 340 assists.
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Building on His Coaching Career
Mazulla went undrafted in 2011 and received coaching job offers. However, he turned them down to pursue a professional playing career but was unsuccessful in finding a team. He turned to coaching and got his first assistant job at Glenville State. He worked at the Division II for two years before switching to Fairmount State in 2013.
Three years later, Mazzulla moved to the Maine Red Claws, an affiliate of the Boston Celtics. In 2017, he got his first head coach job at Fairmont State and led them to an impressive 43-17 record in two years.
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Joining NBA
In 2019, the former player joined the coaching ranks in the NBA as an assistant coach of the Boston Celtics. He worked under Brad Stevens and Ime Udoka. In 2022, Mazzulla was hired as the team’s interim head coach after Udoka was dismissed after having an inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Before that, he interviewed for the head coach role at the Utah Jazz unsuccessfully.
After a series of impressive performances that saw him named the Eastern Conference Coach of the Month and Team Giannis head coach in the NBA All-Star Games, the Celtics announced him as their head coach.
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Celtics Head Coach
Mazzulla started with an impressive record, taking the Celtics to a league-best 42-17 record in the NBA All-Star. He then led them to the Eastern Conference Finals but lost to the Miami Heat in seven games. The Italian-American was shortlisted for the Coach of the Year award.
After an impressive first season, the President of the organization Brad Stevens voiced his support for Mazzulla. In 2023/24, he picked up where he left off. The Celtics had a 64-18 record, their first 60-plus wins in a single season since 2009. This secured them the first seed and home-court advantage in the NBA playoffs.
Winning the NBA
The Celtics beat the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers to become the youngest coach since Bill Russell in 1969 to reach the NBA Finals. The Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 Mavericks for the Celtics 18th NBA title and Mazzulla’s first. This made him the youngest head coach to win the title in 50 years.
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After this historic victory, Mazzulla told ESPN,
“You get very few chances in life to be great, and you get very few changes in life to carry on the ownership and the responsibilities of what these banners are and all the great people and great players that came here.”
Joe Mazzulla has had a successful start in his head coach reign at the Celtics. His foundational years are bearing fruit, bearing in mind that this was his first NBA head coach job. He proved his doubters wrong and did the unthinkable. Are you a Celtics fan? What are your thoughts on Joe Mazzulla? Share on the comments below.
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