After an off-the-court scandal resulted in the dismissal of talented head coach Ime Udoka, the Boston Celtics were forced into a difficult situation: replacing one of the best head coaches in the league while being in a championship window.
In this situation, things could’ve gone horribly wrong, resulting in the team falling apart and perhaps stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown looking for a way out of Boston.
Fortunately for the Celtics, Joe Mazzulla was willing to take on the tall task of replacing Udoka and actually took Boston to another level with a different coaching style.
Although it seemed as though Udoka’s in-your-face approach to coaching was working for the Celtics, Mazzulla’s calm and relaxed approach also appears to have gotten the best out of his players over the past two seasons, resulting in the team winning an NBA record 18th title.
Even though Mazzulla has proven his worth as a head coach in the league while making the Celtics better and not worse since taking over for Udoka, it seems as though he’s still not getting the respect he deserves, with a recent poll ranking him as the 11th-best coach in the league, with Udonis Haslem taking exception to it on The OGs Show via NBA Central.
“It ain’t 10 coaches in the league better than Joe Mazzulla,” Haslem said.
Udonis Haslem blasts the media for ranking Joe Mazzulla as the 11th best coach in the NBA
“It ain’t 10 coaches in the league better than Joe Mazzulla.” 👀
(🎥 @theOGsShow / https://t.co/1ktZkwBjZM) pic.twitter.com/19d8oLmx9a
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) September 24, 2024
Haslem has a point because that’s saying a third of the league has a better coach than the Celtics, which isn’t the case when looking at what Mazzulla has accomplished in a short amount of time.
Many will point to the fact that the Celtics roster is stacked from top to bottom, but sometimes that can make it more difficult for a head coach, especially one without much experience as the leader on the sideline.
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