Joe Mazzulla may officially be the NBA’s Coach of the Year, but the Boston Celtics head coach still doesn’t believe the award should belong to just one person.
After guiding Boston to the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference during a season filled with uncertainty, Mazzulla was announced Tuesday night as the winner of the NBA’s 2025-26 Coach of the Year award.
The Celtics exceeded expectations despite spending most of the season without Jayson Tatum as he recovered from Achilles surgery, while also adjusting to the departures of key veterans including Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday.
Ironically, Mazzulla had already made headlines earlier this year when he dismissed the award altogether.
“I don’t need it,” Mazzulla said back in March. “I think it’s a stupid award.”
But Mazzulla later clarified that his issue was never with recognition itself. Instead, he believes coaching success is built collectively behind the scenes and should reflect the entire organization rather than one individual.
“The long nights, the trips, game plans, the video guys that are clipping up the film and coding it, the assistants who are putting in the game plan, I think there’s so much that goes into winning one game,” Mazzulla said during Tuesday night’s announcement on NBC. “It starts with the players, but it goes to our staff. I feel bad that they’re not here — but forever indebted to the guys that we have that give up time with their families and their time to give us a chance to win every day.”
At 37 years old, Mazzulla also became the youngest winner of the award since Phil Johnson in 1975, according to the NBA.
The award carries extra meaning in Boston, with Mazzulla receiving the Red Auerbach Trophy, named after the legendary Celtics coach who led the franchise to nine championships. Mazzulla is now the fourth Celtics coach to win the honor, joining Auerbach, Tom Heinsohn and Bill Fitch.
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