Brad Stevens shares his confidence in Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla
BOSTON -- For the second straight season, the Boston Celtics will have a new head coach on opening night. The circumstances this year are much, much different than last, however, and have the franchise in a bit of a black cloud at the moment.
After leading Boston to the NBA Finals in his first season on the bench last season, Ime Udoka has been suspended for the 2022-23 season for violations of team policies. It's a harsh and unprecedented penalty, but one the Boston brass defended earnestly in their first public comments on the situation Friday morning.
During the press conference, Celtics president of basketball ops. Brad Stevens confirmed that assistant Joe Mazzulla will take over for Udoka this season. Mazzulla, a Rhode Island native, has been on the Celtics' coaching staff the last three seasons.
It's obviously a difficult and unique situation, with training camp set to start on Tuesday. Mazzulla, who has never even been a bench coach, is now taking over a team that was two wins away from an NBA title just a few months ago.
Stevens is confident that the 34-year-old is up to the task.
"It's not an easy timing for him or the rest of the staff. But he's an exceptionally sharp and talented person," Stevens said of Mazzulla. "I believe strongly in him and his ability to lead people, his ability to galvanize a room and get behind them. His ability to organize and understand everything that comes with running a team."
Stevens added that Mazzulla has an incredible coaching staff around him.
"I believe in Joe's leadership and with them bringing all their strengths to the table, this will be a challenge but I'm really confident in the team and coaching staff that will take the court on Tuesday," he said. "It's not what we expected to have happened, but we are confident."
Stevens said that he never considered going back to the head-coaching role himself, even though owner Wyc Grousbeck broached the subject. He also said he will "absolutely not" consider a return to the bench if the Celtics struggle early in the season.
"Joe is the best choice. By a longshot," said Stevens. "As you go through this process, it all hits you, but I think we have the best people in place to do that and Joe is the best person in our organization."
Mazzulla did have some legal issues when he was a student at West Virginia. He was arrested twice, including an incident of domestic battery in 2009.
Stevens strongly vetted Mazzulla when he hired him as part of the Maine Red Claws staff in 2016-17, and believes that Mazzulla has grown substantially from those incidents.
"I will tell you this; I believe strongly in Joe's substance as a person. He has been very open about how those moments impacted him in every which way. You can see it in the way he carries himself," said Stevens. "He's been working with us for three years, and you've probably seen articles from that time, and that I saw three years ago when I hired him.
"I believe that shaped him to who he is today in a really good way. He'll be the first to tell you he's 100% accountable for that, and I'll be the first to tell you that I believe in him."
Mazzulla will address the media for the first time as Celtics head coach on Monday, when the team holds its media day in Canton.
