Notable update emerges on Joe Mazzulla’s future after playoff choke

The Boston Celtics still have more screenings of “The Town” in their future.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla is expected to remain in his position despite the team’s playoff choke, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe reported this week. Himmelsbach notes that Mazzulla will likely be named NBA Coach of the Year in the coming days as well.

Mazzulla, 37, just completed his fourth season as the head coach of the Celtics after taking over for the fired Ime Udoka in 2022. He has gone a scorching 238-90 (.726) overall in Boston and also guided the Celtics to the 2024 NBA championship.

Meanwhile, this past regular season marked some of Mazzulla’s best work yet. Despite being without Jayson Tatum for most of the year and trading the likes of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis before the season even began, Boston went a stunning 56-26 and secured the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Of course, the wheels then fell off the bus for the Celtics in the postseason. They blew a 3-1 lead to the No. 7 seed Philadelphia 76ers and ended up bowing out in the very first round (after some questionable decisions down the stretch by Mazzulla).

One could obviously argue that this was always going to be a bridge year for Boston and that they overachieved and created unrealistic expectations for themselves with their impressive regular season. Celtics management appears to feel the same way and will likely be giving another chance to Mazzulla (and his highly unusual personality).