Brad Stevens stands by Joe Mazzulla after Celtics’ early playoff exit

The Boston Celtics failed to make it past two rounds in their NBA championship defense, and it feels all too much like head coach Joe Mazzulla played a prominent role in that disappointment.

Brad Stevens is standing by him.

Boston's president of basketball operations gave his end-of-season press conference on Monday, and was asked about the uncertainty surrounding the job security of head coaches around the NBA. Himself a former Celtics head coach, Stevens sidestepped an outright dismissal by making a rare upward shift to the front office as the team's new basketball chief. But that didn't make him any less aware of the early expiration dates on head coaches.

Still, Stevens is apparently sticking with Mazzulla, who is facing scrutiny for the way he managed the Celtics' last playoff series, a six-game loss to the underdog New York Knicks.

"Joe's great. Joe's done a great job," Stevens said. "We're lucky that we have Joe here, we're lucky that we have the staff we have here, and we're thankful."

^{Brad Stevens}

Between those votes of confidence, Stevens spoke at length about the nature of coaching in the NBA, which is a common reality across professional sports. Head coaches generally have shorter shelf lives than players, and past success can only save them for so long.

Former Nuggets head coach Michael Malone learned that the hard way. Less than two years after Denver won the 2023 NBA championship, Malone was dismissed mere weeks before the start of the 2025 playoffs. The Memphis Grizzlies in March fired Taylor Jenkins as head coach after nearly six full seasons, despite making the playoffs in four of the past five years.

Stevens ostensibly left the door ajar for Mazzulla to face a similarly unfair fate -- eventually. But not necessarily now.

"I don't think anyone in coaching ever thought it was certain. So, I think uncertainty is what you signed up for, in some ways," Stevens said. "But, listen, there's so many things that go into winning and losing, and coaching's part of it, but playing, circumstances, injuries, whatever the case may be, there's so many things. That's why I think it's so important to -- I know how hard their jobs are. I felt for Taylor [Jenkins] and for Mike [Malone], and obviously talk to both of them.

"But every year, good coaches get let go, and they're way better than everybody talks about them. I'm just telling you because I coached against them. They're way better than everybody thinks or knows. But that's the reality of our situations, because that's the way the world works, and there's other coaches that are really good too that will get their opportunities."

^{Joe Mazzulla}

The Celtics attempted by far the most 3-pointers per game in the regular season at 48.2, nearly six more than the second-place Golden State Warriors (42.4). As of Tuesday, they've attempted the third-most triples per game in the playoffs (39.8). Of the four remaining teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder attempt the most threes on average at 39.0. The Minnesota Timberwolves, Indiana Pacers, and New York Knicks rank eighth, ninth, and 13th among all playoff teams in that category, respectively.

An overreliance on 3-point shooting ultimately hurt the Celtics in their series loss to the Knicks. Their shot quality declined and the balls stopped falling, as New York came back from two 20-point deficits, and a 14-point deficit in Game 4, to establish a 3-1 lead that proved insurmountable. Mazzulla will need to prove he has more of a willingness or awareness to adjust in-game when the 3-point approach is hurting the team.

In light of Stevens' comments in Monday's press conference, it would be stunning if he turned around and fired Mazzulla any time soon. The most recent reporting indicates that Mazzulla will be entering the final year of his contract in 2025-26, so the Celtics may have to make a decision on an extension or a parting of ways in order to avoid the dreaded "lame duck" situation.

But it seems that Mazzulla will at least get to coach the C's into next season. We'll see how it goes from there, but Stevens expressed satisfaction with the job he's done to this point.