ATLANTA – Joe Mazzulla once said nobody cares about the Coach of the Month Award. It was on brand for him to express a similar sentiment on Monday when asked about potentially winning Coach of the Year this season.
“I don’t need it,” Mazzulla said. “I think it’s a stupid award. They shouldn’t have it. And it’s more about the players. It’s more about the work that the staff puts in. It’s just that simple. I really don’t ever want to be asked or talked about it again. It’s just that dumb. So, the players play. It’s about them. Staff works their ass off. I’m grateful to have them.”
Though Mazzulla didn’t want to discuss his candidacy, he is considered one of the contenders for Coach of the Year after guiding the Celtics to their fifth straight 50-win season despite an offseason overhaul and Jayson Tatum missing most of the season. Hawks coach Quin Snyder lauded the job Mazzulla has done to lead the Celtics to second place in the Eastern Conference, saying he has done “a terrific job identifying where their strengths are – and they play to them.”
“I’ll say it again,” Snyder said when later asked to expand on Mazzulla’s coaching. “Anytime your roster changes, when you lose a player of Jayson Tatum’s caliber, you adjust. I think that’s in this league, as coaches, that’s a big part of the job. Not just that, but trying to find efficiencies and what they’ve done as far as the way they play. They’ve got a real purpose with what they do on both ends of the floor. They do a great job of protecting the paint and (are) just really aggressive with their help situations. And then, the offensive stuff is really the part that people look at the most. And it’s a credit to (Payton) Pritchard, (Jaylen) Brown, a lot of guys that have involved even more so as players (while) getting more usage and opportunities. What Joe’s done is figure out a way to play that maximizes the personality that they have. And I think ultimately that’s fundamentally, when I look at them and watch them play, why I would say that he’s done such a terrific job.”
Coach of the Year won’t be decided until after the season, but Jayson Tatum racked up an award Monday when he was named Eastern Conference Player of the Week. Tatum averaged 25.7 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game while leading the Celtics to a 3-0 week. He also became the youngest Celtics player ever to reach 14,000 points scored for his career. On Sunday, he scored a season-high 32 points and tied a season-high with five 3s. Boston is 9-2 since he returned to the lineup on March 6.
Even Mazzulla had to admit that it was meaningful for Tatum to win the award less than a month after returning from a torn Achilles.
“It’s a good, small affirmation that he’s continuing to chip away at being – just getting better and better,” Mazzulla said. “So, it’s a credit to the work that he’s put in, his team, that everybody that’s helped him get back to where he is now and what he’s doing. And so, good, small affirmation and we can keep getting better.”
Tatum will not play against the Hawks with the Celtics on the second leg of a back-to-back.
“That’s where I just trust the people that we have,” Mazzulla said. “I trust the sports science team. I trust (trainer) Nick (Sang), the guy that’s been with him for a lot of his career, but also during this journey and getting back (on the court). So, I kind of stayed out of it and really just listen to the people that know a lot more about that and kind of trust them. And that’s what’s best for our team, that’s what’s best for him right now. And then we go forward. So, just kind of got to listen to them on that.”