Joe Mazzulla Reveals He Coached Through Injury to Lead Celtics to NBA Title

He became the youngest head coach since Bill Russell to win a championship on Monday night.

Jun 14, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla looks on against the Dallas Mavericks during the first half of game four of the 2024 NBA Finals at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Kristaps Porziņģis wasn't the only member of the Boston Celtics dealing with an injury during the team's playoff run en route to an 18th NBA championship.

None other than Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla was gritting it out to help lead Boston to its first NBA title since 2008.

During a postgame interview with ESPN anchor Michael Eaves, Mazzulla was asked how he plans to celebrate the Celtics' championship victory.

Party? Celebrate with family? None of the above.

Mazzulla responded by saying that he'll need surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee, an injury he says he suffered prior to the Celtics' run through the playoffs and NBA Finals win (Mazzulla's response can be heard at the 3:48 mark in the video below).

"Hey guess what?" Mazzulla said. "I gotta have knee surgery. I tore my meniscus in March after we lost to Atlanta ... I'm gonna be out a little while, I've been working through it since March."

Mazzulla, who at 35 became the youngest head coach to win an NBA title in 55 years, is an avid MMA fan and has even tapped into Brazilian jiu-jitsu as an avenue to improve himself as a coach.

It's not clear exactly how Mazzulla suffered the knee injury, but he'll definitely have to put his martial arts regimen on hold until after the surgery.

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Mazzulla joined the Celtics as an assistant coach in 2019 and was named interim coach in September of 2022 after the then-suspension of Ime Udoka. He became the team's full-time head coach in February of 2023.

In two seasons at the helm, Mazzulla has compiled a 121-43 record and has led the franchise to at least the conference finals in both years.

Now, Mazzulla has an NBA championship under his belt, as well.