Joe Mazzulla has officially removed his interim tag and is now the head coach of the Boston Celtics. Mazzulla is the 19th head coach in the franchise’s history and will replace Ime Udoka. After a 42-17 record at the All-Star break, Mazzulla finally proved he is a head coach in this league as he received a contract extension from the Celtics.
After the suspension of Udoka, Mazzulla was told just 26 days before opening night that he would be the guy. This team had high expectations after their trip to the NBA Finals the previous season. Despite this, Mazzulla’s squad has the best record in the league heading into the All-Star break where he will be coaching for Team Giannis. Mazzulla will either face or coach his two stars Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown as they both made the big event.
Mazzulla’s Celtics have recorded a 116.7 offensive rating, 110.6 defensive rating, and 6.2 net rating. All of these are top-4 in the league respectively with the net rating being ranked first in the NBA. No other team has all three in the top-5.
As for Ime Udoka
Now that the Celtics have moved forward with Mazzulla, Udoka is free to coach wherever he is needed. It was rumored earlier this season he would coach for the Brooklyn Nets after the firing of Steve Nash, but the Nets went in-house with Jacque Vaughn. While there aren’t any job openings at the moment, some teams could look for a change in culture or direction. Some teams could be more in contention but may be held back by coaching style. Look for Udoka’s name to be floating around.
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