Joe Mazzulla wins NBA Coach of the Year after calling the award ‘stupid’ just months earlier

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla called the Coach of the Year award “stupid.”

Now, he’s won it.

“I don’t need it. I think it’s a stupid award,” Mazzulla said back in March after being asked about the possibility of winning it due to the Celtics’ regular-season success without some of its stars, including Jayson Tatum, for most of the year.

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The award’s winner was announced on Tuesday night, as Mazzulla helped lead the Celtics to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 56-26 record, finishing four games behind the top-seeded Detroit Pistons.

But Mazzulla wasn’t just calling the award stupid for the sake of it – he believed it should be a “coaching staff of the year” honor rather than one person getting hardware.

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Mazzulla, discussing the honor on Tuesday night, told NBC as much.

“The long nights, the trips, game plans, the video guys that are clipping up the film and coding it, the assistants who are putting in the game plan, I think there’s so much that goes into winning one game,” Mazzulla explained. “It starts with the players, but it goes to our staff. I feel bad that they’re not here — but forever indebted to the guys that we have that give up time with their families and their time to give us a chance to win every day.”

Mazzulla is the fourth Celtics coach to win the award, which is named after the legendary Red Auerbach, who won it in 1965. Tom Heinsohn (1973) and Bill Fitch (1980) have also received the Red Auerbach Trophy in their careers.

Auerbach helped lead the Celtics to nine NBA titles, including eight in a row from 1959-66, during his Hall of Fame career.

Mazzulla was able to capture that glory in 2024, as the Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 4-1, to notch yet another Larry O’Brien Trophy for Boston’s mantle.

Unfortunately for the Celtics, they were unable to make it far in these playoffs despite their stars getting healthy late in the season. They were shockingly bounced in the first round after losing Game 7 to the Philadelphia 76ers.

But Mazzulla, 37, is now the youngest head coach to receive the Coach of the Year award since the legendary Phil Jackson won it in 1975, per the NBA.

While Mazzulla wanted to point at his staff, Celtics president of basketball operations, Brad Stevens, praised his fourth-year head coach.

“This is well deserved recognition and a testament to both Joe and his staff,” Stevens said. “With all of our unknowns entering the season, Joe did a fantastic job building and growing a team. He pours everything he has into competing at a high level, while helping players find the best versions of themselves within the framework of a team.”

Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff finished in second place, which is the same spot he found himself in after last season, and San Antonio Spurs leader Mitch Johnson finished in third place.

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