How Celtics Owner Wyc Grousbeck Viewed Joe Mazzulla’s First Season

It was far from smooth sailing in Joe Mazzulla’s first season at the helm of the Boston Celtics.

He took over as interim head coach under unusual circumstances, with the dark cloud of the Ime Udoka scandal hovering over the entire organization just prior to the season starting.

Mazzulla ended up shedding the interim label by the All-Star break as he guided the Celtics through that rough sea but also created some of his own. He went against the grain with his timeout strategy that proved costly at points and got into some bizarre spats with the media.

Mazulla then helped the Celtics get through the first two rounds of the NBA playoffs despite being criticized by Marcus Smart. Then, Boston fell into a 3-0 series deficit to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals only to get on the precipice of history before falling a win shy of reaching a second straight NBA Finals.

There’s certainly plenty to digest about Mazzulla’s first campaign, and Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck took plenty of positives away from it.

“We were in an interesting situation at the beginning of last season and (president of basketball operations) Brad (Stevens) strongly recommended Joe for the job. And Brad feels even more strongly about him now, and I agree,” Grousbeck told The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach. “Joe handled that initial transition, and eventually the entire season, incredibly well. He’s got world-class intensity, drive, and knowledge. He is fully committed to winning a championship with this group. It’s all he thinks about.

“Every breath he takes is about making the Celtics better and doing a better job as a coach. He’s all-in.”

Questions arose this offseason if the Celtics would consider replacing Mazzulla for a more experienced coach as Boston looked to break through to a title.

Grousbeck admits it would have been an option, but Mazzulla’s success as a whole saved his job.

“If Joe had done a poor job, I would have thought about replacing him, but he did a very good job,” Grousbeck said. “He took us within one game of the best record in the league and then one game of being in the Finals, as a rookie coach. So I’m comfortable and happy to have Joe as head coach.”

Despite what Grousbeck said, it is clear the Celtics still don’t fully trust Mazzulla despite whatever praise they send his way.

The Celtics understand he’s still learning on the job and needed to be surrounded by more experienced assistants, which is why they brought two top candidates in Sam Cassell and Charles Lee onto the staff for the upcoming season.

But if Mazzulla and the Celtics come up short again in Year 2, Grousbeck might have to revisit the idea of keeping Mazzulla around.