In September 2022, I reported on the suspension and eventual release of then Celtics head coach Ime Udoka, as well as what the future of the Celtics would look like without the well-liked head coach. I also covered what would happen with the appointment of interim head coach Joe Mazzulla, who was Ime Udoka’s assistant coach, citing that he had all the qualifications to be a successful head coach. This was seen firsthand when he was given the official head coaching job in February of 2023, while the Celtics boasted a 42-17 record.
After Mazzulla’s hiring, many of the players and organization had nothing but praise for coach Mazzulla, with Jason Tatum saying in an interview with NSEN, “As he has shown, Joe is a very talented coach and leader.” Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens stated, “He has a unique ability to galvanize a room around a mission. We are thankful for the work he has done to help get us to this point, and excited that he has agreed to lead us into the future.” Even though he had the backing of many players and the higher-ups in the Celtics organization, we have to see if the results were worthy of this hiring.
After the All-Star break, and using the motivation from the NBA finals loss to the Warriors the season prior, they ended with a record of 57-25 and 2nd in the Eastern Conference. During the playoffs, they would fight their way to the Conference Final, where they would lose four games to three in a thrilling seven-game series upset against the 8th seed, Miami Heat. This was a disappointing result for the Celtics from the predictions at the start of the season. With the turmoil that happened during the season, this can be credited as a success for Joe Mazzula, and things would continue to go up for Mazzula and the Celtics in the following season.
The 23-24 season would be the biggest test of Mazzula’s short NBA head coaching career; this would be his first full season in charge, and he would have to prove that he was, in fact, the right person for the job. They would end the season with a 64-18, which was the best record in the Eastern Conference, and huge favorites going into the playoffs. They would prove all the hype was true during the playoffs, only losing two games the whole playoffs, leading up to the NBA finals, where they’d face the Dallas Mavericks. They would go on to beat the Mavericks 4-1, winning the NBA finals for the first time since 2008, with Jaylen Brown winning Finals MVP. This win proved that Mazzula was the right man for the job and had many people looking forward to the next season, where they went 61-21 and fell short in the conference semi-final to the Knicks, mainly due to injuries, as star player Jason Tatum tore his Achilles in game 4 against the Knicks.
This season, the injury to Jason Tatum, and with many star players vital to their NBA finals victory, leaving or being traded. Many predicted that the Celtics would struggle to make the playoffs, a Yahoo Sports article even used this headline at the start of the season: “Boston Celtics 2025-26 season preview: Will this be a lottery team without Jayson Tatum?” They have proved all the critics wrong as, just past the halfway point of the season, the Celtics sit at 31-18 and 3rd in the Eastern conference and with a possible return of Tatum late in the season, things can only go up for Mazzula and the Celtics.
