Who is new Boston Celtics Head Coach Joe Mazzulla

By: Steve Atkinson

Sixteen years ago, playing for Bishop Hendricken High School Joe Mazzulla probably didn’t think he would become the head coach of the Boston Celtics years later. He and my cousin were teammates on Bishop Hendricken. The team dominated and they won State Championships. I guess you could say Hendricken is the Alabama of Rhode Island high school basketball. I know it’s high school basketball but regardless the drive of winning carries in every level. It doesn’t matter if it’s high school, college, or the pros. The Celtics just went to the NBA Finals and almost won it, people should be confident in Mazzulla as he becomes the next head coach.

His former high school coach of Bishop Hendricken Jamal Gomes isn’t surprised that Mazzulla will be the next man up in the Celtics organization.

“Yeah, there was a buzz throughout the school my phone. My phone was blowing up the whole day. Can you believe this? People saying, can you believe this, Coach? Believe it and in my answer is yes I can totally an absolutely believe it. I’m just so proud of him and this opportunity that he may have. It’s a once in a lifetime He always wanted to learn right and he was always coachable, and I think that’s the first place you need to be a great coach as you have to be coachable yourself and be willing to learn,” 

President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens hired Mazzulla as one of his assistants in 2019 and liked his leadership as an assistant and willingness to learn.

“I believe in Joe’s leadership,” Stevens said. “And again with all of them [Celtics assistant coaches] bringing their strengths to the table, I think it’s going to be an unbelievable challenge but I’m really confident in the team and the coaching staff that will take the court on Tuesday. It’s not what we expected to have happened, but I’m very confident.”

Tatum is also a Mazzulla guy which is huge. You want the star players on your team to like the coach. Maybe the team will come together like never before and prove everyone wrong. Maybe they’ll even win the championship. After all they were the favorites to win the Eastern Conference before the events of last week happened. But I think it’s a great opportunity for Mazzulla to show his leadership, drive, and focus on winning. Take what he learned back in the early 2000s playing at Hendricken and apply it to the Celtics team which is really close at banner 18.

Good coaches in the NBA are tough to come by because of the star talent on the court. Look at Steve Nash with the Nets. He’s not the coach of that team it’s Kyrie Irving. He runs the ship. They are lucky to even be a decent team because that coach is just there for decoration. Not with Mazzulla though, you’ll see this week when the Celtics meet the media. They believe in this guy, and it starts with Tatum. This is what Tatum said about Joe in the NBA Finals this past year.

“I think just being around him for the last — I think this is his second or third year, you could tell how passionate he is about the guys and his craft. He’s gotten so much more knowledgeable, more detailed and just more vocal and more comfortable in his role as a coach. You’ve seen a growth from his first year. He’s helped me out tremendously as a player and as a person. I can’t say enough good things about Joe. Everybody appreciates what he brings to this team, and I’m glad that we have him.”