{"id":691557,"date":"2026-04-01T09:10:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/691557\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T09:10:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T09:10:15","slug":"celtics-joe-mazzulla-should-win-the-nba-coach-of-the-year-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/691557\/","title":{"rendered":"Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla should win the NBA Coach of the Year award"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cI really don\u2019t ever want to be asked about or talked about [regarding] it again. It\u2019s just that dumb. The players play; it\u2019s about them. The staff works their [butt] off. I\u2019m grateful for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

No one will ever accuse Mazzulla of a light touch. I\u2019ve got some bad news, Coach. You should win this award. No one in the NBA has done a better job of maximizing his roster and adapting to his team\u2019s talent. With Mazzulla\u2019s guidance, adjustments, and integration of players \u2014 the latest being Jayson Tatum \u2014 the Celtics turned a gap year into a great year. <\/p>\n

There was a real question among some (raises hand)<\/a> whether Mazzulla remained too philosophically inflexible to adapt to a squad that started the season without Tatum and the veteran firepower Mazzulla became accustomed to. From Day 1, when he ascended from the back row to take over for Ime Udoka in the wake of Udoka\u2019s indiscretions, Mazzulla dealt with ready-made title contenders. <\/p>\n

Not this time. Mazzulla was tasked with molding those pieces and the team\u2019s style of play to fit them. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s what good coaches do: they fit the system to the talent, not the other way around. That\u2019s what Mazzulla has done while still maintaining his basketball principles \u2014 two-on-ones for everyone!<\/p>\n

Since the Celtics delivered a bombs-away bomb against the lowly Jazz on Nov. 3 \u2014 shooting 11 of 51 from 3-point range in a 105-103 loss<\/a> \u2014 they own the second-best offensive rating in the NBA (119.8). In their first eight games, capped by the Utah flop, they averaged 47.8 3-point attempts \u2014 in line with last season when they established an NBA record at 48.3. After the line-of-demarcation loss, the volume decreased to 41.4 threes per game, a noticeable shift. <\/p>\n

Mazzulla empowered Jaylen Brown to become a mid-range master and unleash an MVP-caliber campaign. Last season, 5.6 percent of Boston\u2019s points came via mid-range shots, which ranked 21st. This season, with Brown leading the way, Boston sat eighth in points via mid-range shots at 8.1 percent.<\/p>\n

In 2024-25, just 41 percent of the Celtics\u2019 points came via 2-pointers, last in the 30-team NBA. The apogee \u2014 or nadir \u2014 of this hoops hire-wire approach was the first two games of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Knicks. The Green shot themselves in the foot and out of the series before Tatum was felled in Game 4. <\/p>\n

This season, 2-point production has increased to 46.6 percent, which ranked 25th heading into Wednesday night\u2019s tilt with the Heat \u2014 marking a rebalancing of shot attempts to fit this roster, one that still carries sharpshooters Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, and Sam Hauser. <\/p>\n

The Celtics are far from shy about launching from beyond the arc. But the \u201cThree For All\u201d approach has been muted to a necessary degree. <\/p>\n

Perhaps, the most impressive element of Mazzulla\u2019s coaching job isn\u2019t found in the advanced analytics. It\u2019s old-fashioned feel. <\/p>\n

\"JoeJoe Mazzulla has shown the right feel with his players all season long. Danielle Parhizkaran\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n

All season long, Boston\u2019s bench boss has displayed a tremendous touch for which role players to employ when. He plays role-player roulette and keeps hitting \u2014 knowing when to plug in Hauser, energetic rookie Hugo Gonz\u00e1lez, Jordan Walsh, Luka Garza, and Baylor Scheierman, who has taken off in his sophomore season. Mazzulla did the same with ex-Celtic Josh Minott early in the season. That contributed to Boston owning the No. 1 defense in the NBA in points allowed (106.9) entering Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Whether he likes it or not, Mazzulla is a Coach of the Year candidate. Cases such as Dwane Casey (fired in 2018 while winning COY) and 2013 winner George Karl (canned by the Nuggets at the conclusion of that season) contribute to the notion it\u2019s the coaching kiss of death. But job security is an oxymoron in the NBA anyway.<\/p>\n

Mazzulla and his staff are doing too good a job to avoid consideration. <\/p>\n

The Celtics not only survived while Tatum was rehabilitating his torn Achilles they thrived. With Tatum rounding back into All-NBA form, the Celtics should be the favorites to emerge from the Eastern Conference scrum. <\/p>\n

Speaking of favorites, betting odds placed Mazzulla second in the<\/a> race to win the award behind Detroit\u2019s J.B. Bickerstaff. Despite Mazzulla\u2019s disdain, it is a prestigious honor, captured by coaching royalty such as Pat Riley, Phil Jackson, Gregg Popovich, and, of course, the namesake of the trophy, Red Auerbach. <\/p>\n

One element Mazzulla should\u2019ve considered before he lambasted the award, it honors the legendary parquet patriarch<\/a>. It features Red\u2019s visage, victory cigar in hand.<\/p>\n

That alone is reason the award should exist, and a Celtics coach winning the Auerbach Trophy feels fitting.<\/p>\n

Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at christopher.gasper@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @cgasper<\/a> and on Instagram @cgaspersports<\/a>.<\/p>\n