Joe Mazzulla’s position as head coach of the Boston Celtics may be in doubt during the off-season.
The Celtics are on the verge of losing in the NBA Eastern Conference Final to the Miami Heat. Sunday’s 128-102 defeat in Game Three means the Celtics are losing the series 3-0 and only one defeat away from exiting the playoffs.
Mazzulla was hired as head coach of the Celtics last summer after being promoted from being assistant coach to Ime Udoka. Former Celtics head coach Brad Stevens made the appointment, who himself also served as the team’s head coach for eight years from 2013-21.
According to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, Mazzulla’s position as Celtics head coach is no longer as stable as it was prior to the playoffs. It’s been claimed that what is happening to the Celtics against the Heat is “dangerous”, and could lead to changes being made, despite Stevens having belief in Mazzulla as head coach.
“You have to understand that Brad Stevens’ faith and belief in Joe Mazzulla is extremely strong,” Windhorst told ESPN's ‘Get Up’. “He sets the agenda for the organisation.
“There’s a reason he gave him the job in the first place, there’s a reason why he promoted him. But when you have a collapse like this, like what is happening to the Celtics right now, I’m going to tell you [that] it’s dangerous.
“It’s dangerous because it causes so much pressure and urgency in the need to fix something that it distorts reality, and it could affect the way that the Celtics look at this off-season. So I can no longer say that I don’t think it’s possible that they [the Celtics] would make a change [at head coach].
“I will just point out that they will have had three coaches in three years, and stability is certainly a concern there and this is more of the fallout of what happened with Ime Udoka. You also have to realise that the Celtics team has a history of losing their focus, and Udoka was a guy who really applied a lot of pressure. Mazzulla is a different guy, in fact he came out last night and fell over himself trying to take the blame for it.
“It was clear that he was trying to be the shield for his players, he was actually doing way too much to be the shield for his players - the exact inverse of the way Udoka handled this job. So I definitely think if Mazzulla comes back [next season], we’re going to see a mentality switch, if nothing else.”
Mazzulla spoke to reporters after the Game Three loss to the Heat where he took the blame for the defeat. The Celtics head coach claims that he didn’t get the players ready for the game against the Heat.
“I just didn’t have them ready to play,” Mazzulla said. “I just didn’t have them execute the proper game plan. I didn’t put them in the right mentality to be ready. It’s my job to make sure that they’re connected and ready to play and I didn’t do that.”
When asked if he felt there is a disconnect between him and the players, Mazzulla said: “Yeah, it’s why I need to be better to figure out what this team needs. To make sure they’re connected, they’re physical, and they’re together by the time we step on the floor.”
