Kevin Redfern and Ryan Decker
23 minutes ago
MIAMI, FL – APRIL 27: Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla smiles on the sideline late in the fourth quarter. (Photo by Daniel Palhizkaran/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
Joe Mazzulla has continued to make history since taking over as head coach of the Boston Celtics in 2022, and on Monday night in Game 5 of the NBA Finals he recorded the most historic win of his young coaching career.
The former Mountaineers player led the top-seeded Celtics to the team’s most recent NBA championship, beating the Dallas Mavericks 106-88. It was Boston’s 18th championship, the most in NBA history.
Mazzulla became the youngest head coach to win an NBA title since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976 and the first former West Virginia University player or coach to win a professional championship as a head coach since Joe Steidaher led the Los Angeles Rams to the 1951 NFL title.
“You don’t get many chances in life to be great and you don’t get many changes in life to take over ownership and responsibility for what this flag is and all the great people and great players that are here,” Mazzulla told ESPN’s Lisa Salters at center court on the trophy presentation stage. “When you have few chances in life, you have to face the problems head on and take responsibility.”
Boston’s win over Dallas capped a season in which the Celtics finished seven games behind the NBA’s best record (64-18) in the regular season and went a dominant 16-3 in the postseason.
“The great thing about Joe Mazzulla is he’s not affected by expectations,” Celtics owner Wyck Grousbeck said onstage shortly after his team won the championship.
The second-year head coach recorded his 100th regular season win in February after just 137 games on the job, making him the fourth-fastest player in NBA history to reach that milestone. Only Steve Kerr, Tom Thibodeau and Avery Johnson reached the milestone in fewer games. Mazzulla also holds the best winning percentage in NBA history (72.9%), including playoff games, with a career record of 148-55.
In college, he helped the Mountaineers reach the Final Four as a junior guard in 2010. He returned to West Virginia later in his career to serve as the head men’s basketball coach at Glenville State College and Fairmont State University.
