Ime Udoka suspended by the Celtics, and perhaps even soon dismissed, it is Joe Mazzulla who will temporarily take over the role of head coach of Boston. But who is the new strongman of the Beantown franchise?
When Arsène Wenger arrives at Arsenal in 1996, the British press seems surprised by this choice. “Arsene who? can we read in the media. So inevitably, when we saw who was going to replace Ime Udoka in Boston, a sentence burned our letters. Joe who? Joe Mazzulla in truth. Who is the one who will coach the last NBA finalist? Former West Virginia player in the NCAA, Joe Mazzulla never exported his talents to the NBA. Not drafted, he very quickly opted for a career in coaching. Throughout the 2010s, he therefore went through assistant positions, mainly in the NCAA but also for a year at the Maine Red Claws, the G League team affiliated with the Boston Celtics. It wasn’t until 2019 that he joined the green franchise as an assistant to Brad Stevens. When Ime Udoka arrives at TD Garden in 2021, he manages to keep his place in the staff, in particular because he is highly appreciated by the group. A version confirmed by Udoka during the last Playoffs. Comments transcribed by Chris Forsberg from NBC Sports Boston.
“I spoke to everyone in the organization when I was hired, including the players, and Mazzulla received nothing but rave reviews. I didn’t know much regarding him before I got hired. I attach great importance to the opinion of the players. He was a man of consensus. He’s someone they’ve all worked closely with, believed in and understood the potential of. »
The guy is therefore appreciated by the players and in particular by the executives like a certain Jayson Tatum, the local star.
“He helped me enormously as a player and as a person. I have nothing but good things to say regarding Joe. Everyone appreciates him and appreciates what he brings to this team. I’m glad we have it. »
While he was supposed to take the lead in the staff this summer, becoming one of Udoka’s main assistants, Mazzulla will take the number 1 costume at only 34 years old. It’s a hell of a bet for the franchise to bet on such a young coach. He certainly has ten years of experience behind him, but he only coached two years as a head coach and that was at university (between 2017 and 2019). Can he lead the Celtics back to the NBA Finals? In any case, he will have a lot of pressure to bear for his first time at the head of a franchise. Pressure that will come from the field but not only… Indeed, old files emerged from the appointment of Mazzulla as interim. It is particularly a question of several court cases from his time as a college player. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to underage drinking and aggravated assault. In 2009, he was arrested for domestic assault. It would have been in particular a question of a woman grabbed by the neck in a bar… Finally, he was summoned to appear in 2010 for having urinated in public in downtown Morgantown. Several cases which are summarized in an article by Eamonn Brennan ofESPN dating from 2010.
So certainly, we are talking regarding facts that go back a number of years but given the speed with which the files have emerged, we can expect that the Celtics will have to manage some embarrassing questions in the coming days. The Blazers had for example found themselves with a similar case last year when the appointment of Chauncey Billups, accused in 1997 of sexual assault. Suffice to say that the Celtics may not cut it.
New Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla is regarding to take on a big challenge in Beantown. His sporting and extra-sporting past already raises many questions, it is up to him to prove that he is the man for the job to lead Boston to the heights.
Source texte : ESPN / NBC Sports Boston
