NBA Notebook: Former Celtics coach Damon Stoudamire talks Joe Mazzulla and Boston tenure

ATLANTA -- A parade of Celtics saw a familiar face when they exited the locker room before their game at the Hawks on Monday. Georgia Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire surprised the team and showed up to watch one of the first games he's fully taken in since departing Boston nearly one year ago. He and Payton Pritchard shared a long conversation in the hallway. Joe Mazzulla flashed a wide smile and they hugged. Stoudamire would go on to host their practice at Georgia Tech's practice facility two days later after the Yellow Jackets finished an offseason workout. 

Stoudamire received word of the opportunity to become a head coach nearly one year ago while the Celtics finished their regular season. Accepting the job, and fulfilling a dream, meant making the difficult decision to leave the Boston team he helped steady through turmoil for much of the season. Stoudamire coached his last game on Mar. 13, 2023, a surprising road loss to the Rockets that previewed some of the postseason challenges and inconsistencies ahead for first-year head coach Mazzulla, who would progress without his colleagues Ime Udoka, Will Hardy and Stoudamire, who led the team to the NBA Finals less than one year earlier. 

The Celtics lost in seven games to the Heat going six and seven with the Hawks and 76ers on an exhausting journey that ended with most of the remaining staff that formerly worked under Udoka departing. Boston hired Charles Lee and Sam Cassell to fill Hardy and Stoudamire's former roles, something Brad Stevens expressed some regret over trying and failing to do in the spring, and along with significant roster changes have led to a far more stable and successful season. One that impressed Stoudamire from afar, who led the Yellow Jackets to a 14-18 (7-13 ACC) season that featured upset wins over No. 7 Duke and No. 3 North Carolina, but too many bad losses. 

Here was his conversation with Boston Sports Journal on Friday from the teams' ...

Boston Sports Journal: How did the year go for you down here? What was the experience was like getting to lead a program. You obviously always wanted to be a head coach.

Damon Stoudamire: "It was a great year getting back to being a head coach. I had been away from it for a couple of years, but it was good. We had some really good wins, but we had some disappointing losses as well. Getting my feet up underneath me again, leading, I enjoyed every, you know, enjoyed every bit of it." 

BSJ: How did the opportunity come together? Obviously, you left in (March), their head coaching job opened up. How did that opportunity come together for you? What was the process that led to you coming down here?

Stoudamire: "It really wasn't a process. It happened so quick, we were actually coming down to play the Hawks and that's when I was essentially asked to meet. So it all came together literally in 24 hours, and I talked it over with several people, including people within the organization and decided to take this opportunity." 

BSJ: How difficult of a decision was that? Where you're gonna have to leave mid-season, you'd been through that whole year with the team and obviously it was a great opportunity here, but, just before the playoffs, you're gonna have to leave Joe and all the players there.

Stoudamire: "For most people, they won't understand. It was probably the most difficult decision I had to make because I didn't know what to expect when I got to Boston. But I had the time of my life with (a) first-class organization, the staff and the players were first class, but I enjoyed the city, so for me, it was like therapeutic and I needed that at that time in my life because being a head coach is really demanding and I was at a smaller school (Pacific). Yes, but that's what makes it harder. So to be a head coach for five years and then to come and be an assistant, I was able to decompress, I was able to see things through a different lens. I was able to help differently. I was able to learn from a lot of people that I was around and I was open and willing to do that. So then all of a sudden to have this opportunity and like I said, it came together, it wasn't like a process where it was like, oh, I met with him two or three times. It didn't happen like that. So I had to make decisions quick, quick, quick, and it was like one day I'm coaching then next day, I'm at a press conference. It's been a whirlwind to be honest with you because it hasn't stopped since the press conference." 

BSJ: How difficult was last year with everything you guys went through and Joe kind of being thrust into that role just days before training camp. What kind of position did that put you in becoming his assistant last year to help him make that transition? 

Stoudamire: "It was easy for me, because first of all, when I came, I never aspired to be the head coach. So everything happened, I get it, everything happened, but my goals and my mission for coming never changed one bit. Everybody knows that Ime is one of my good friends and will always be one of my good friends and the situation was unfortunate, but at the same time, I still had a job to do too. So it never dawned on me. The task at hand wasn't completed. So I told Joe, even when everything went down and he was named (head coach), we met and I told him, no different than if Ime was here. I'm gonna do my best to make sure you succeed. It's my job. So whether it's putting out fires, whether it's being there for you, lending an ear, game planning, whatever it is that we need to do to be successful, that's what I'm gonna do to help you. Nothing's changed. So me and Joe had a great relationship and so most people wouldn't even know, it wasn't a working relationship now. It wasn't a working relationship because when he was an assistant, we talked a lot. We talked a lot about a lot of different things. We spent a lot of time together. I don't think people understand that when you're with a staff, you wanna work with really good people, and we had a really good staff and we spent a lot of time together. So I knew he was gonna be successful and it was just a matter of me trying to help him get to the point of where he needed. Even now fast forwarding and all the way to now, the thing that I take really good joy in watching him is he's so much more comfortable with who he is as being the head coach of the Boston Celtics, and I think he wears that with a badge of honor and it's not easy. That's a city that loves the sports, that's the city that wants to win, and with the teams that we have, they expect us to win as well. So it's not enough to get to the playoffs, it's not enough to go to the semis or the Eastern Conference Finals. At this point, it's not enough to go to the Finals. The task at hand never goes unforeseen. I think they got the right guy at the helm to get them to where ultimately they want to hang that 18th banner." 

BSJ: What was the process like of him getting comfortable last year, because I'm sure a lot of when you go into a season with just a couple of days, you keep all the same stuff. I'm sure he made his imprint, too, with him becoming the coach. How do you see him through the course of that year get more comfortable and get adjusted to what was probably like a really frantic, tough situation stepping in there? 

Stoudamire: "To be honest with you, I don't know if he ever truly got comfortable. He got comfortable enough to coach the team, obviously, because you're thrust into that position. It's a great opportunity, but you're never comfortable until you're able to, at the end of the season, evaluate, see what you like, don't like, because you can only tweak things. Everything was pretty much already in place. So the task at hand didn't change from that standpoint. It was just a different leader, and so now you're leading guys that were brought in by another head coach. That's not easy. So you gotta, you gotta develop a different type of relationship with guys. So he did do that. I think that, ultimately, the season came up short, but I thought he did a hell of a job because it wasn't easy to be put into that situation. We quickly forget how it is, but the first thing I told Joe when we talked before he said anything, I said, 'man, unfortunately, nobody gives a s--- what happened, they still want us to win a championship. So we gotta keep this thing moving. We gotta keep it moving fast forward.' I know he always understood that, but the imprint of his team, you can see it now more than last year because he has a year under his belt. He knew the players as the assistant. Now he knows him as the head coach and they know him. The trust is there and you just see, to me, a guy that's really comfortable in his own skin again and being the head coach of the Boston Celtics." 

BSJ: I know you're down here, you're focused on what you're doing here, but how have you been able to watch this season play out, the level of dominance they've reached? What do you think has been the big difference in them reaching even another level this year?

Stoudamire: "It's weird because I haven't been able to watch the games like I wanted to, but just based on even watching the game the other night, going to the game, seeing in person. The ball movement is immaculate, the shot-making. It's crazy to think that you could get better (compared to) how we did in the past, but Derrick has gotten better, so that's made the team better. You add Jrue Holiday, who, for this team and this year, you can tell he's still trying to make the adjustment. He's turned into the glue guy, so then you got the ultimate X-factor in Porzingis and he's been playing really well. So you go from having two guys getting 20 (points), now you got three guys getting 20, then now you could put Al in more of a role that's gonna preserve him. Payton's playing a bigger role and he's comfortable with it. That's where the dominance comes in. That's where Joe's come in as well, with the relationships that he has with other players, because unbeknownst to a lot of people, when you have a coaching change, now players wonder where they stand too. So you have to be prepared for everything, and I think Joe's made those players comfortable and I do think that the players are comfortable with him in return."

BSJ: Two of the guys who were closest with, Marcus and Payton as well, obviously tough to see Marcus go and be traded over the summer, but that's opened up a door for Payton and he's played some of his best basketball of his career over the last month or so.  How have you kept up relationships with some of the guys you work most closely with, whether it's a Marcus, whether it's a Payton and just kind of seeing how the last year has gone for them?

Stoudamire: "We text. I'm able to text them a bit and things, they're gonna change some when you're not around each other every day, but the biggest thing is that when you genuinely have relationships, I always tell people that it don't matter if you haven't talked in a year. Whenever you talk, you just pick up where you left off. My main thing is with those guys, and any of the guys I've talked to, even the coaches that I still talk to, it's just, man, don't forget the mission. (There'll be) a lot of bumps in the road and a lot of hiccups, but don't forget the mission and it's a long season and you gotta figure out ways to get through those lulls, break down the season in fourths ... and sometimes you have lulls. Now, they haven't had that lull, might have a couple bad games or games that they want back, but haven't had that lull. But this team, to me, what they got to figure out is how to still understand the mission, not get bored with the process and don't take things for granted and always savor these moments, because you don't get them back. That was always my biggest thing that first year when we went to the Finals, man, savor this moment and get the most out of these moments and get the most out of this season, because you don't get it back, because the locker room changes every year. It doesn't matter whether somebody gets a job, an assistant coach gets a job, an assistant coach moves on, a player gets traded, a player doesn't come back. It won't look the same. So don't take it for granted, you know what I mean? That's always the thing that I talk to, whether it's Marcus Smart in Memphis, regardless of what they're going through. Payton, Joe, whatever assistant coaches, it doesn't matter. Just don't take it for granted, because you don't get it back. So leave it all out there."  

BSJ: What do you think it's gonna take, especially looking back at the things you guys worked through when you were there, for them to get over that hump for them to finally win that championship this year? What's gonna be the biggest factor, you think?

Stoudamire: "Just keeping everybody on the same page and focused. I think it's their form. I think everybody understands it's their form. You gotta get through the regular season, then you gotta get through the first round and again, you gotta stay task oriented. You can't start looking ahead. When you start looking ahead, that's when things happen the wrong way. Stay task oriented. Be ready for the first round, whoever you got. Go to the second round, be ready, you got it and that's how you do it, but you gotta stay the course. That's the biggest thing. You got to stay the course. You can't start thinking about stuff that hasn't happened yet, because anything can happen." 

BSJ: You saw them grow in that in your time here, you feel like, just being able to focus on that? 

Stoudamire: "Yeah, you got, you gotta be able to focus on the task at hand. No doubt." 

BSJ: I wanna ask too. Ime has had a lot of success in Houston this year. I know Ben (Sullivan) went down with him and some of the guys you worked with, what's it like to just, you know, see them get a fresh start down there and have some success and obviously a little bit of a different situation with the younger team? 

Stoudamire: "I'm happy for them. They've done well. Ime has done a great job. Ben, Garrett (Jackson), a lot of guys are gone but I think what has to be said is (that there) was no division. So I know you weren't saying it that way, but sometimes I've heard it this way there, there weren't Ime guys and that's not how it worked. That was never how it was. When Ime left, that wasn't how it was. So I think that those guys are good coaches and obviously they have a familiarity with Ime. In Ben's case, he was able to move up and in Garrett's case, he was able to move up. Guys were able to move up so (I'm) really happy for him, and for them to be fighting for that last play-in spot right now, it's amazing. I think it's a testament to who they are, each one of them, as coaches and how they pour into the guys and how they've been able to go down there and create a different culture in Houston." 

Here's what else happened around the NBA this week...

Atlanta (34-39): Beat the Celtics in back-to-back home games with a victory over the Trail Blazers sandwiched between. Dejounte Murray broke Bob Pettit's Hawks record by attempting 44 shots in the second win, an overtime thriller on Thursday that he capped with a game-winning shot over Jrue Holiday with 0.1 seconds remaining. Murray scored 44 points with seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals on 18-for-44 shooting (6-19 3PT) while Atlanta's aggressive offensive rebounding overwhelmed Boston. 

Three nights earlier, they trailed by 30 points and pulled off the biggest NBA comeback in two seasons to knock off the Celtics in crunch time, a win capped by De'Andre Hunter shooting and hitting a three following an offensive rebound with the shot clock off and maintaining a one-point lead. Trae Young (finger), Jalen Johnson (ankle) and Onyeka Okongwu (toe) missed both games, making the upsets over the best team in the east more shocking. Atlanta has won four straight and pulled within 1.0 game of the Bulls, their inevitable opponent in the 9-10 play-in tournament game. They visit Chicago on Monday night for a preview.