New NBA Intel On Joe Mazzulla’s Celtics Job Security

The Boston Celtics never considered firing Joe Mazzulla as head coach after the 2023 NBA playoffs ended, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

The Celtics lost to the Miami Heat in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals in seven games. They lost Game 7 at home by 19 points and some people around the NBA thought Boston would part ways with Mazzulla.

However, according to Windhorst, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens is a huge fan of Mazzulla.

“Not only was [Mazzulla] never in trouble, Brad Stevens’ biggest moves as the president of the team has been to lean into more of the way Joe Mazzulla wants to play, which is high-volume three-point shooting and offense over defense,” Windhorst said on his podcast. “They are absolutely headlong into the Mazzulla mindset. This is the way Stevens and Mazzulla want to play.”

The Celtics won 57 games last season and went 11-9 in the 2023 playoffs. Mazzulla took over for Ime Udoka, who was fired following an alleged affair with a female team staff member.

Stevens has made three big moves this summer. He traded Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies, acquired Kristaps Porzingis from the Washington Wizards and traded Grant Williams to the Dallas Mavericks. Stevens and the Celtics are expected to sign Jaylen Brown to a supermax extension once Brown comes back from vacation.

During his end-of-the-season press conference, Stevens talked highly of Mazzulla.

“I thought he, again, did a really good job with this group,” Stevens said of Mazzulla. “Everybody’s going to overreact to the best players and coaches after every game. That’s always the way it is. We know that going in so we have to be able to judge things on the whole. And he’s a terrific leader. He’ll only get better at anything that he can learn from this year because he’s constantly trying to learn. And he’s accountable.”