Celtics’ Joe Mazzulla wins Coach of the Year award after campaigning against it

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla has been named the 2025-26 NBA Coach of the Year, the league announced on Tuesday.

In just his fourth season as the head coach of the Celtics, Mazzulla becomes the fourth coach in franchise history to win this award, joining Red Auerbach (1964-65), Tom Heinsohn (1972-73), and Bill Fitch (1979-80).

Mazzulla, 37, is also the youngest to ever win the NBA Coach of the Year award since Phil Jackson during the 1974-75 season. Mark Daigneault was previously the youngest head coach since Jackson to win the award at 39 when he was named Coach of the Year with the Oklahoma City Thunder during the 2023-24 season.

Despite Jayson Tatum missing a vast majority of the season recovering from his Achilles injury, as well as the Celtics moving on from veteran contributors Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis before the season began, Mazzulla led his team to a 56-26 record, the second-best record in the Eastern Conference behind only the Detroit Pistons.

Aside from putting Jaylen Brown in the featured star spot with Tatum sidelined, Mazzulla was consistently praised throughout the year for the continued development of Neemias Queta, Baylor Scheierman, Hugo Gonzalez, and other young players whom the head coach counted on to step up into larger roles.

The 2025-26 season marked the fifth straight year that the Celtics have claimed the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division title.

Although the Celtics fell short in their first-round series against the Philadelphia 76ers, losing in Game 7 at home, Mazzulla still did a fantastic job of taking a team many thought would go through a gap year and making them a real threat throughout the regular season.

Amid all the attention and constant noise surrounding him potentially winning this award late in the year, Mazzulla downplayed the Coach of the Year Award and actually took time to explain why he hates it.

“I think it’s a stupid award. They shouldn’t have it. It’s more about the players. It’s more about the work that the staff puts in,” Mazzulla said on March 30th before the team’s 75th game of the year against the Atlanta Hawks. “It’s that simple, and I don’t ever want to be asked or talk about it again.”

Mazzulla went on to say how the award is “dumb,” and it’s really about the players and the staff he surrounds himself with.

“Staff works their [expletive] off. I’m grateful to have them.”

His intensity and sternness with the media have always been reminiscent of a younger Gregg Popovich when he was with the San Antonio Spurs, and Mazzulla simply lets everyone know the truth. The Celtics coach never backs down from sharing his true feelings on something, and that is what he did, explaining his involvement with this award.

Mazzulla may appreciate winning the award for a split second, but at the end of the day, he made it clear it wouldn’t be possible without his players and coaches.

Detroit Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff, who led his team to 60 wins and the 1-seed in the East, finished second in the Coach of the Year voting. San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson led his team to 62 wins, the franchise’s best record in the last decade, which resulted in him finishing third in the voting.

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