{"id":586388,"date":"2026-02-06T14:22:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T14:22:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/586388\/"},"modified":"2026-02-06T14:22:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T14:22:24","slug":"why-joe-mazzulla-is-the-nba-coach-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/586388\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Joe Mazzulla is the NBA Coach of the Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joe Mazzulla is never one to accept praise, often deflecting it toward his staff and players. He famously told Derrick White \u201cnobody cares\u201d after being congratulated for winning Coach of the Month. He\u2019d probably even call this piece a waste of time, but I\u2019m here to say it\u2019s time for him to get his credit.<\/p>\n

Fans and award voters have discredited Mazzulla\u2019s success as a product of loaded rosters, ignoring his part in elevating those units. Sure, he inherited a contender. But it was days before training camp, and he was stuck with another coach\u2019s staff. Managing 57 wins as a rookie under those circumstances was a massive success, but still only good for a 3rd place finish in Coach of the Year voting.<\/p>\n

A dominant 64-win Championship season somehow moved him back a spot, and a 61-win follow-up through injury and fatigue took him out of the race altogether.<\/p>\n

\"Mar<\/a><\/p>\n

Mar 12, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla and Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault watch from the sideline at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images David Butler II-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The narrative was that they should be that good, so he can\u2019t be rewarded for meeting expectations. Sustained success isn\u2019t as cool as the shiny new playoff team, or the overachiever. But now, Boston is on the other side of that spectrum, and his group is doing far more than anyone expected.<\/p>\n

Mazzulla had his championship roster completely gutted at the top. In a flash, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday and his top three centers were all out of the picture. They went from the top of the league to a projected Play-In team, or worse.<\/p>\n

There weren\u2019t many believers. Their preseason win total was set at 41.5.<\/p>\n

Boston is currently 33-18. They would have to go 9-22 the rest of the way to beat that total.<\/p>\n

They are the 2nd seed in the East and finding answers every single night. Mazzulla has pushed all the right buttons in terms of lineup combinations and game-planning. The roster has carryover from previous years, but he\u2019s getting the absolute most while toggling through a variety of unproven bench pieces.<\/p>\n

\"BOSTON,<\/a><\/p>\n

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – NOVEMBER 16: Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla looks on from the bench during the second half against the LA Clippers at TD Garden on November 16, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics defeat the Clippers 121-118. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Maddie Meyer\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n

They have the highest Offensive Rating in the league, and their 8.0 Net Rating is down just -1.4 from last season despite the considerable changes. You can see that sustainability most clearly when Jaylen Brown is off the floor, as those lineups are still steamrolling teams with a +12.8 net rating and a 121.6 offensive rating.<\/p>\n

Their defense, which could\u2019ve fallen off a cliff, is quickly climbing and sits just outside the top-10.<\/p>\n

Losing Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet was supposed to be catastrophic for this team. Mazzulla has empowered Neemias Queta and Luka Garza, and played to their strengths so effectively that you\u2019re not left each night thinking about what they lost.<\/p>\n

There are other coaches doing great work this season, but nobody is crushing expectations at a level this extreme. No team has faced this much roster turnover, and hardly missed a beat.<\/p>\n

The sportsbooks are telling a different story, with J.B. Bickerstaff sitting as a heavy favorite to take home the Red Auerbach Trophy. And look, the Pistons\u2019 breakout is great and Bickerstaff is a worthy contender, but there was an expectation they could take a step forward. Boston was supposed to take several steps back, yet Mazzulla\u2019s group has the better Net Rating.<\/p>\n

He is not solely responsible for the Celtics\u2019 success, though it should be unmistakably clear how effective his principles and system are.<\/p>\n

Their latest win in Houston is one of the finest examples. Without Jaylen Brown, they still absolutely squashed the Rockets. Mazzulla went an unconventional route and gave Ron Harper Jr. his first career start. Few would think to call on a two-way player, let alone throw them at Kevin Durant, but it turned out to be a stroke of brilliance. His defense combined with their efforts to shrink the floor, held Durant and their #5 offense to 93 points.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s moments like these, where he\u2019s tweaking the rotation, and building players confidence, while still maintaining their style that you can see how effective he is.<\/p>\n

Managing great teams is not easy \u2014 we\u2019ve seen enough implode to know that\u2019s true. But this season has revealed without a doubt that he adapts to his group, and knows how to extract the most value from them.<\/p>\n

With massively talented teams of the past, he understood that they\u2019d benefit from the freedom to make plays without frequent intervention. For a squad like this current one, his fingerprints are all over the game. This is something that was mistaken as a dependency, when it\u2019s far more about awareness.<\/p>\n

For the critics who thought he was only as good as his roster, this season is a big green slap in the face. For award voters, the evidence is undeniable. It\u2019s time to leave the goalposts where they belong, and award Coach of the Year to Joe Mazzulla.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joe Mazzulla is never one to accept praise, often deflecting it toward his staff and players. He famously…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":586389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,37650,3798,46,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-586388","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-boston-celtics-articles","12":"tag-bostonceltics","13":"tag-celtics","14":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116024138824940486","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=586388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/586388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=586388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=586388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=586388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}