Joe Mazzulla recently made the news for leading the Boston Celtics to the 2024 NBA championship win. Shortly after, several headlines claimed him as the youngest coach ever to achieve this feat. Despite being impressive, this declaration fails to reveal the entire truth.
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At the age of 35 years and 11 months, Mazzulla has played a key role in ending the agony of Boston. Under his leadership, the franchise has secured its 18th NBA title to become the most successful franchise ever.
Mazzulla has become the youngest head coach to win an NBA title since the late great Bill Russell. The latter had accomplished this feat as a player-coach for the Celtics in 1969, within a month after his 35th birthday.
However, Harry “Buddy” Jeannette remains the youngest NBA coach to achieve this feat. At 30 years and 7 months, he led the Baltimore Bullets to the 1948 BAA championship during his second season as a player-coach.
Yet, these historical accomplishments take nothing away from Mazzulla. Instead, his unique success story is bound to serve as an inspiration to uncountable aspirants.
How Joe Mazzulla reached the mountaintop
Mazzulla’s early contact with the NBA was a forgettable one. When the Rhode Island-born entered the 2011 draft as a college graduate, he faced outright rejection from franchises. Consequently, he went undrafted on this occasion, shattering his dreams of playing in the league.
Despite this major setback, he refused to give up on basketball entirely. In a remarkable turn of events, he shortly after joined the Glenville State Pioneers as their assistant coach. To his credit, Mazzulla has never had to look back.
After a few stints as an assistant coach, he joined the Division 2 side Fairmont State University as their head coach in 2017. Two years later, he made his coveted entry into the NBA as an assistant to former Celtics head coach, Ime Udoka.
The rest, as they say, is history. After Udoka was dismissed due to violating team policies, Mazzulla took over as interim coach of a roster fresh off a Finals loss. The appointment was made permanent soon, and immediately the Celtics looked like a different team. Better coached, more mature, and almost unstoppable. Despite their ECF Finals loss last season, the team stayed confident in their abilities, and they followed it up with a historic season.
By far the best offensive and defensive team in the league, the Celtics steamrolled their way to a 64-win season, the best in the Association. This was followed by a 16-3 postseason, ending with an NBA title in front of their home fans.
Amidst the hype around his success, the Celtics head coach has always kept his feet on the ground. For instance, during a recent interview with AP News’ Tim Reynolds, the 35-year-old expressed gratitude for the opportunities. “There’s nothing better than representing the Celtics and being part of history,” he mentioned.
Mazzulla’s Celtics have created a buzz around the league, and this win marks the sudden power shift in the NBA- younger coaches taking over teams with newer ideas and unorthodox methods.
