Celtics Applaud Joe Mazzulla After Seizing Record-Breaking NBA Title

BOSTON — It was only a season ago when Joe Mazzulla was promoted from interim to full-time head coach of the Celtics, replacing a terminated Ime Udoka only a few days before the team’s training camp.

That wasn’t ideal situation for any coach across the league, putting Mazzulla in a difficult situation with only assistant coaching experience in the NBA. Yet, the 35-year-old, who never fails to speak his mind and who can relate to Jayson Tatum in terms of media backlash, validated himself. Mazzulla became the youngest head coach to win an NBA Finals since Bill Russell (1968), and Mazzulla did so at the helm of Boston’s victory over the Mavericks to capture the organization’s record-setting 18th title.

“Joe is an animal,” Kristaps Porzingis said after the Celtics beat the Mavericks, 106-88 at TD Garden on Monday night.

Last season ended in an inexcusable fashion. Whether that was tied to Mazzulla’s inexperience, the team’s immaturity in handling the big moments, or a roster that couldn’t click, one thing was clear: a repeat couldn’t and wouldn’t be acceptable, and that’s why Boston’s front office took an aggressive offseason approach in acquiring Porzingis and Jrue Holiday.

Yet, in being a creative and open minded, applying learning lessons from watching the NFL, re-watching the UFC, or Premier League soccer, Mazzulla gained the locker room’s trust. He always stuck by his players, never failed to give praise to anyone on the roster who deserved it, and prioritized the team’s best interests over everything else — even if it called for unleashing a hack-a-Andre Drummond defense for Boston to advance during the In-Season Tournament back in November.

It was a bumpy and unexpected road, but one that came with a giant reward.

“We all know Joe was thrown into the fire last year, and I felt like he did the best he could,” Al Horford explained. “But I just think this year, everything was different when we came in for workouts before training camp. He really, I felt like, put a sprint on everything how he wanted it to be and how he wanted us to work, how he wanted us to carry ourselves, how determined he wanted us to be.”

Even with an NBA championship added to Mazzulla’s still-young head-coaching resume, the Rhode Island native understands just winning once will never be enough to satisfy the outsiders — especially in Boston.

“You need criticism. You need praise. You need expectations,” Mazzulla said. “All those things go into making who you are as a person, making who you are as people, as an organization.”