What the Celtics said about Joe Mazzulla’s 100th career win
The Rhode Island native said the milestone is something to be grateful for.
A little more than halfway through his second season, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has earned his 100th career regular-season win.
The Celtics thrashed the Nets, prevailing 136-86 over Brooklyn in the final game before the All-Star break.
The 35-year-old Rhode Island native said he was pleased to reach the milestone. Mazzulla’s record is now 100-37 since he took over after Ime Udoka was suspended.
“I told the guys that I think it’s something to be proud of, something to be grateful for,” Mazzulla said. “It’s just a testament to the people that you have around you. I think in a business of where individual success is talked about on a nightly basis — box scores and things like that — to have a group of people that you can share your success with is important.”
The Celtics enter the All-Star break with the NBA’s best record at 43-12. They’re the only team in the league with 40 or more wins.
“It really starts with the players. I always tell them I can’t be who I am if they don’t let me,” Mazzulla said. “I appreciate that. That’s a gift in coaching. You could always be in a situation where you don’t have empowerment or guys don’t allow you to be yourself. It’s an important gift that they players give me and they give it to each other.”
Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis said it can be easy to overlook Mazzulla’s contributions because of the talented roster he inherited.
“Just seeing how people view him maybe from the outside a little bit, I think he’s a little underrated. People don’t appreciate who he is and how he coaches because he’s very young and you can always blame it on him and stuff like that.”
“It’s easy to not give him the credit because of the talent we have,” Porzingis added. “But he deserves a lot of credit. He deserves a lot of credit and the rest of the coaching staff also.”
Mazzulla was an assistant on Udoka’s staff when the Celtics traded for Derrick White two years ago.
White said he’s noticed a lot of growth from the coach over the past two seasons.
“When I first got here, obviously I was probably with Ime (Udoka) and Will (Hardy) mostly,” White said. “But, I remember them telling me if you need to know anything with the defense, Joe is your guy.”
“So, that was my first introduction to Joe,” White added. “Obviously with him being head coach, it’s been great building that relationship with him on and off the court. Great guy, great coach. I just love playing for him.
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