Will Celtics Remove Interim Tag From Joe Mazzulla’s Title?

Joe Mazzulla is having a successful 2022-23 season with the Celtics after he was thrust into the head coaching role without much notice.

Boston suspended Ime Udoka for a year due to “violation of team policies.” Reports surfaced that Udoka was involved in an “inappropriate relationship” with a Celtics staffer and made “unwanted comments” toward her.

Mazzulla was named the interim head coach and now has the Celtics sitting in second place in the NBA, behind only the Milwaukee Bucks.

It would make sense if the Celtics decided to remove the interim tag from Mazzulla given their 22-10 record, but president of basketball operations Brad Stevens won’t commit to anything just yet.

“He’s been great and his staff’s been great,” Stevens told reporters Friday, per MassLive’s Souichi Terada. “That’s something that probably doesn’t get talked about enough. I think that was a unique thing for everybody and the staff just came in and did their job to add to winning. That’s what we have to do. Everybody in this building has a role, we all have to play it as well as we can to give ourselves a chance to win.”

It certainly isn’t crucial for the Celtics to make a decision right this very moment with there being 50 games left in the season, but it remains unclear if Mazzulla will be the full-time head coach beyond this season or if Udoka will return to the bench.

The Celtics look to end their three-game losing streak Friday night when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves. Tip from TD Garden is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.