Could Celtics' Joe Mazzulla be the NBA's next superstar coach?

Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics is the youngest head coach in the NBA, and in only his second year at the helm he has his team in the Finals, where they will take on the Dallas Mavericks beginning Thursday. 

An unlikely success story, Mazzulla first earned the Celtics job after Ime Udoka was suspended mere weeks before the 2022-23 NBA season began, and prior to that his only head coaching experience had been with Division II Fairmont State University in West Virginia.

Originally tabbed as an interim while Udoka served his suspension, Mazzulla was awarded the full-time gig in 2023 after a fast start. However, under heavy pressure with an elite roster that had made the NBA Finals the previous year under Udoka, there were questions about whether or not he was the right man for the long haul. 

Those questions have been silenced this season, while furthermore, Mazzulla has won over his locker room — and many outside of it — with his charmingly eccentric style of leadership.

Some hoops fans may remember Mazzulla's name from his playing days in college, when he helped lead West Virginia University to the NCAA Tournament's Final Four in 2010. He notably scored 17 points in WVU's Elite Eight game to take down a Kentucky squad that featured future NBA All-Stars John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins, and while playing for an iconic character in Bob Huggins, it's easy to see where many of Mazzulla's philosophies originated.

There's plenty of Huggins in Mazzulla, from the dry wit to the obsessive focus to the tough-minded culture he has instilled in his team clubhouse. However, he is also young, energetic and stylistically suited for the modern game. 

At 35, he's just getting started building his legacy, and in a league where no coach's job ever seems to be fully secure, the best way to buy yourself more time is to win.

In that regard, Mazzulla simultaneously has one of the hardest jobs in the NBA as well as one of the easiest. With a full offseason last summer to properly prepare for everything his position entails, he's proved he has all the intangibles necessary to lead a team to greatness at the highest level — and as long as he and his current roster remain in Boston, he'll have plenty of opportunities to achieve it.

All Mazzulla needs to do is not actively hurt his team while managing games, and he's going to be one of the league's premier bench bosses for a long time. 

His unconventional road to the top made him an intriguing story from the start, and he has the smarts, the surroundings and most importantly the charisma to become the NBA's next superstar head coach.