It was not all that long ago that fans of the Boston Celtics were lining up to fire head coach Joe Mazzulla — at least, in their imagination, anyway. But the bumps and doubt from Mazzulla’s first season at the helm of the Celtics has given way to title celebrations in his second campaign, washing away most of those ill vibes.
Boston President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens recently opened up about that shift in fan perception towards Mazzulla in an interview with the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach. “He did a great job in year one under really tough circumstances,” said Stevens, alluding to the massive task of taking over Ime Udoka’s team just days before the start of training camp.
“Then he came back and prepared exceptionally well and really had an unbelievable year and always recognized the whole time how fortunate we were to have the team we had.”
Celtics Lab 276: A closer look at the Olympics, Team USA, and the Celtics with Noa Dalzell https://t.co/8pKriN9TpA pic.twitter.com/BxWhKDs48x
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“His leadership all the way throughout and the way he managed each part of the season, and the way we peaked in the playoffs, was really encouraging,” added the Celtics president.
“Winning all those close games in the Indiana series, I just thought there were a lot of good things. It was cool to see that. It’s a reminder I think of how good he’s always been, and we knew that.”
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