Joe Mazzulla Wins a Stupid Award

[It may be more precise to refer to it as “stupidly named”.]
Back in March, Joe Mazzulla had some unkind words for the NBA’s “Coach of the Year” award, referring to it as “stupid”. That remark came despite his being a frontrunner for the award. Sure enough, this week, he won it.

Though his manner is brusque, his reasoning is sound:

[Mazzulla] thinks it should be more of a “coaching staff of the year” than a “coach of the year” award, and that is a noble approach. He repeated that during Tuesday night’s announcement of his win, beginning his remarks on NBC by thanking those who made it possible.

“The long nights, the trips, game plans, the video guys that are clipping up the film and coding it, the assistants who are putting in the game plan, I think there’s so much that goes into winning one game,” Mazzulla said. “It starts with the players, but it goes to our staff. I feel bad that they’re not here — but forever indebted to the guys that we have that give up time with their families and their time to give us a chance to win every day.”

Congratulations to Mazzulla, and all the Celtics staff, on winning this stupid award.

Previously in Joe Mazzulla: Inspiring Words

Link: https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/05/27/boston-celtics-joe-mazzulla-coach-of-the-year-nba