Brad Stevens Discusses Differences in Joe Mazzulla Entering Year 2 as Celtics' Head Coach

Experience and the Celtics hiring Sam Cassell and Charles Lee get cited most when anticipating Joe Mazzulla's growth as a head coach. But there's another critical factor why he should be better in year 2.

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The whirlwind that was Joe Mazzulla's first season as Celtics bench boss is well-chronicled.

At 34, he was the youngest active head coach in the NBA. And his jump from sitting behind the bench to being at the helm of a title contender coming off a campaign they finished two wins shy of Banner 18 wasn't something he had time to prepare for.

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Mazzulla replaced Ime Udoka right before media day and training camp's arrival. But the C's stuck together in the face of adversity, getting off to the hottest start in the league.

Boston entered the All-Star break with the NBA's best record, earning Mazzulla and the entire coaching staff the job of fulfilling those roles at the All-Star Game, where Jayson Tatum took home MVP.

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It also convinced Celtics' ownership and their president of basketball operations, Brad Stevens, the Johnston, Rhode Island native, was the right choice and worthy of removing the interim tag from his title.

And while there were challenges and trials along the way and Boston's journey through the playoffs was bumpy, the C's came within a victory of becoming the first team in NBA history to erase an 0-3 deficit, a feat that would've propelled them back to the Finals.

That experience and battling the Miami Heat's Erik Spoelstra, currently the best head coach in the NBA in this author's opinion, should mean a great deal to Mazzulla's growth entering his second season at the helm.

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The same applies to adding two of the league's top assistant coaches, Sam Cassell and Charles Lee, moves that recently earned praise from an NBA Hall of Famer.

And while growth isn't always linear, in an appearance on Jones & Mego to support WEEI's Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon, Stevens cited another reason to believe Mazzulla is better in year two on the job.

Brad Stevens says Joe Mazzulla did a “really good job” in his first year coaching the #Celtics and reveals, “He didn’t get a chance to really really coach that group in the way that he probably would have wanted to.” pic.twitter.com/IDzTtHFWUP

— WEEI Afternoon Show (@WEEIAfternoons) August 30, 2023

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