Boston Celtics
“It’s more about the players, more about the work that the staff puts in. It’s just that simple.”
Joe Mazzulla AP Photo/Aaron Gash
-
Jayson Tatum earns his first Eastern Conference player of the week award of the season
-
Celtics get good news on Jaylen Brown’s Achilles tendinitis injury
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla is one of the top-three contenders for the NBA Coach of the Year award.
The accomplishments that these Celtics made this season have put Mazzulla in the spotlight for good reason. The team is further along than most thought they would be, owning the fourth-best record in basketball despite missing Jayson Tatum for most of the season.
Mazzulla was asked before Monday night’s game against the Hawks what winning the award would mean to him. The Celtics coach said that the spotlight should be on his coaching staff and players rather than himself.
“However it is to make sure a way that the staff and the players get the appreciation,” Mazzulla said. “Don’t need it. I think it’s a stupid award and they shouldn’t have it. It’s more about the players, more about the work that the staff puts in. It’s just that simple.
“I don’t ever want to be asked or talk about it again. It’s just that dumb. The players play, it’s about them. The staff works their a** off. I’m grateful to have them.”
The Celtics clinched their fifth-consecutive 50-win season. They’re second in the Eastern Conference. They haven’t missed the playoffs during Mazzulla’s time as head coach. They did it mostly without one of the premier players in the league prior to Tatum’s return.
There are a handful of coaches with a legitimate shot to win the award and Mazzulla is one of them. But, just as he tells reporters that Payton Prtichard’s game isn’t defined only by scoring, Mazzulla says his role in the Celtics organization is about more than just wins and losses.
“I’m not a basketball coach, I’m just a person that shows up every day to help people,” Mazzulla said back in December. “I think that’s the way that you have to look at it. I don’t coach basketball, I don’t really care about basketball as much as I care about the people next to me, the people that I can influence, and the people that I can help.
“That’s the foundation of love and faith and understanding of the guy regardless of what you do or who you are. I don’t think it matters. My identity is not in what I do.”
Mazzulla had a similar reaction earlier this season when he asked about his approach towards coaching the younger players on this year’s roster and whether he tells them about his playing career. He was a member of the West Virginia team that made the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in 2010.
Asked if he’s had to explain the level at which he played to younger players, Mazzulla said he would never do such a thing.
“Honestly, that never comes up,”Mazzulla said. “I hope it never does. It’s really irrelevant, what I did. To me, the challenge with those guys is the balance of grace and pushing them. It’s patience versus grace versus holding them accountable to the highest possible standard.
“Throughout a season when you know you have young guys that make mistakes, it’s finding the balance of when do you show them a little grace and when do you not? When do you have a level of understanding, knowing that they’re just going to go through difficult times. I care more about how they handle when it doesn’t go their way just as much as I do when it does.”
Khari A. Thompson
Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.
Get the latest Boston sports news
Receive updates on your favorite Boston teams, straight from our newsroom to your inbox.
