{"id":283,"date":"2026-05-27T10:06:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T10:06:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=283"},"modified":"2026-05-27T10:06:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T10:06:20","slug":"celtics-joe-mazzulla-wins-nba-coach-of-the-year-after-calling-award-stupid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=283","title":{"rendered":"Celtics\u2019 Joe Mazzulla wins NBA Coach of the Year after calling award \u2018stupid\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>BOSTON \u2014 Joe Mazzulla won the award he insisted he did not want.<\/p>\n<p>The Celtics bench boss was announced Tuesday as the 2025-26 NBA Coach of the Year, beating out fellow finalists J.B. Bickerstaff of Detroit and Mitch Johnson of San Antonio.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=281\">Quake damaged nearly 150 properties<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Mazzulla is the fourth Coach of the Year recipient in Celtics history, joining Red Auerbach (1964-65), Tom Heinsohn (1972-73) and Bill Fitch (1979-80). At 37, he\u2019s also the youngest coach to win the award since Phil Johnson in 1974-75. Mazzulla received 62 of the 100 first-place votes, far outpacing runner-up Bickerstaff (29).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThank you to the Lord for the platform he has given me, and to my wife and family who support me on this journey,\u201d Mazzulla said in a team-released statement. \u201cThank you to our players who compete and give it everything they have each night. I am grateful for every member of the Celtics organization whose dedication impacts winning every day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis award belongs to our staff, who are there for the guys every day. Their relentless work ethic improves our team daily. This award should be named Staff of the Year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Under Mazzulla\u2019s leadership, Boston far exceeded expectations this regular season. The Celtics won 56 games, earned the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference and posted the NBA\u2019s fourth-best net rating despite losing four rotation players last summer and playing most of the season without injured superstar Jayson Tatum.<\/p>\n<p>To fill those gaps, the Celtics leaned on a large group of previously unproven players. Several of those delivered career seasons, including first-year starting center Neemias Queta and key reserves Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, Luka Garza, Hugo Gonzalez and Ron Harper Jr. Veterans Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard also posted career-best numbers.<\/p>\n<p>Mazzulla, who coached the Celtics to the 2023-24 NBA championship in his second season on the job, repeatedly deflected credit for his team\u2019s performance, saying plaudits should go to his players and assistants.<\/p>\n<p>Before a March win over the Atlanta Hawks, he told reporters he never wanted to be asked about the Coach of the Year award again.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=279\">Dodgers takeaways: Max Muncy\u2019s status, Kike Hernandez\u2019s return and red-hot relievers<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t need it,\u201d Mazzulla, whose .726 winning percentage as head coach is the best in NBA history, said at the time. \u201cI think it\u2019s a stupid award. They shouldn\u2019t have it. And it\u2019s more about the players. It\u2019s more about the work that the staff puts in. It\u2019s just that simple. I really don\u2019t ever want to be asked or talk about it again. It\u2019s just that dumb. So, the players play. It\u2019s about them. Staff works their ass off. I\u2019m grateful to have them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Later, after being named as a finalist for the award, Mazzulla said he\u2019d like to see the league introduce a way to recognize an entire coaching staff.<\/p>\n<p>The Celtics\u2019 press release announcing Mazzulla\u2019s honor listed the names of 13 Celtics assistant coaches and player development staffers: Sam Cassell, Tony Dobbins, D.J. MacLeay, Da\u2019Sean Butler, Nana Foulland, Amile Jefferson, Tyler Lashbrook, Craig Luschenat, Ross McMains, Alex Merg, Phil Pressey, God Shammgod Jr. and Steve Tchiengang.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is well-deserved recognition and a testament to both Joe and his staff,\u201d Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens said in a statement. \u201cWith all of our unknowns entering the season, Joe did a fantastic job building and growing a team. He pours everything he has into competing at a high level, while helping players find the best versions of themselves within the framework of a team. On top of all of that, Joe leads with an authentic care for the Celtics and everyone he works with \u2014 players, coaches, and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Celtics\u2019 regular-season success did not translate into a deep playoff run. After building a 3-1 lead in their first-round series against Philadelphia, they lost three straight, resulting in the franchise\u2019s earliest postseason exit since 2021. It was the third time in Mazzulla\u2019s four seasons that Boston lost a playoff series as the higher seed.<\/p>\n<p>Stevens, who was honored as the NBA\u2019s Executive of the Year, said after the season that the Celtics\u2019 roster was not good enough to compete against the league\u2019s true title contenders. He also said the team struggled to generate quality looks during the postseason, contradicting early public comments from Mazzulla.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think our coaching staff, like all of us, can continue to improve and get better,\u201d Stevens said in his end-of-season news conference. \u201cThat said, I think they\u2019re very good. And we need to continue to provide them the resources to grow and to get better and to continue to be the best that we can be. You can\u2019t ignore anything, the good and the bad, but there was a lot of growth this year, and I thought that there was a lot of things that we can build off of, even though the ending was disappointing.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=277\">Six-run inning, 4-homer night propel Mariners to blowout of A\u2019s<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Celtics\u2019 Joe Mazzulla wins NBA Coach of the Year after calling award \u2018stupid\u2019 &#8211; Sports | Hawaii Tribune-Herald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Celtics\u2019 Joe Mazzulla wins NBA Coach of the Year after calling award \u2018stupid\u2019 - 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