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Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla called the Coach of the Year award “stupid.”
Now he has won it.
“I don’t need it. I think it’s a stupid award,” Mazzulla said in March after being asked about the possibility of winning it given the Celtics’ regular-season success without some of their stars, including Jayson Tatum, for most of the year.
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Head coach Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics watches during the second quarter of game five of the first round of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs against the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on April 28, 2026. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The award winner was announced Tuesday night, when Mazzulla helped lead the Celtics to second place in the Eastern Conference with a 56-26 record, finishing four games behind the top-seeded Detroit Pistons.
But Mazzulla wasn’t saying the award was stupid for the sake of it: he believed it should be a “coaching staff of the year” honor instead of just one person receiving hardware.
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Mazzulla, speaking about the honor Tuesday night, told NBC.
“The late nights, the travel, the game plans, the video guys cutting the film and coding it, the assistants putting together the game plan, I think there’s a lot of things that go into winning a game,” Mazzulla explained. “It starts with the players, but it goes down to our staff. I feel bad that they’re not here, but I’ll always be indebted to the guys we have that give up time for their families and their time to give us a chance to win every day.”
Mazzulla is the fourth Celtics coach to win the award, which is named after the legendary Red Auerbach, who won it in 1965. Tom Heinsohn (1973) and Bill Fitch (1980) have also received the Red Auerbach Trophy throughout their careers.
Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla calls on players during the first half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks in Boston on June 6, 2024. (Charles Krupa/AP)
Auerbach helped lead the Celtics to nine NBA titles, including eight in a row from 1959 to 1966, during his Hall of Fame career.
Mazzulla was able to capture that glory in 2024, when the Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 4-1, to capture another Larry O’Brien Trophy for Boston’s mantle.
Unfortunately for the Celtics, they couldn’t get very far in these playoffs even though their stars recovered late in the season. They were surprisingly snubbed in the first round after losing Game 7 to the Philadelphia 76ers.
But Mazzulla, 37, is now the youngest head coach to receive the Coach of the Year award since the legendary Phil Jackson won it in 1975, according to the NBA.
While Mazzulla wanted to point out his staff, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens praised his fourth-year head coach.
Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla watches the game during the third quarter against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 12, 2026. (Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
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“This is a well-deserved recognition and testament to both Joe and his staff,” Stevens said. “With all of our unknowns going into the season, Joe has done a fantastic job building and growing a team. He puts everything he has into competing at a high level, while helping players find the best versions of themselves within a team framework.”
Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff finished in second place, which is the same place he found himself in after last season, and San Antonio Spurs leader Mitch Johnson finished in third place.
