For the first time in more than 45 years, the head coach of the Boston Celtics has been named the NBA’s Coach of the Year.
On Tuesday, the NBA announced that Joe Mazzulla had been named the 2025-26 Coach of the Year. Mazzulla becomes just the fourth Celtics coach to earn the honor, joining Red Auerbach (1964-65), Tom Heinsohn (1972-73), and Bill Fitch (1979-80). Boston’s four Coach of the Year winners are tied with the Bulls for the second-most in NBA history, trailing only the Hawks with six.
Mazzulla, who turns 38 in June, is only the seventh coach in league history to win Coach of the Year before turning 38, and the first to do so since Phil Johnson won with the Kansas City-Omaha Kings at 33 years old during the 1974-75 season. The others include Harry Gallatin (1962-63, 35), Dolph Schayes (1965-66, 37), Red Kerr (1966-67, 34), Richie Guerin (1967-68, 35), Gene Shue (1968-69, 37), and Ray Scott (1973-74, 35).
Despite tempered expectations entering the season, with four of their top nine minute-getters from the previous two years, including the 2024 championship rotation, no longer on the roster, and Jayson Tatum sidelined for the first 62 games, Mazzulla guided the Celtics to 56 wins and the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Boston’s 56 victories ranked fourth in the NBA, and the Celtics became just the fourth team in league history to start 0-3 and still finish with at least 56 wins. It also marked the franchise’s fourth straight 56-win season under Mazzulla, joining Auerbach, Heinsohn, and K. C. Jones as the only coaches in franchise history to string together four consecutive 56-win campaigns.
The Celtics were one of the league’s most efficient teams on both ends of the floor, joining the San Antonio Spurs as the only teams to finish top five in offensive rating (120.0), defensive rating (111.7), and net rating (8.3).
Under Mazzulla, Boston has now finished in the top five in both offensive and defensive rating in all four of his seasons as head coach.
Boston outscored opponents by 631 points this season, the fourth-best mark in the league. Of its 56 wins, 38 came by double digits, including 17 by at least 20 points, 11 by 25 or more, and six by 30 or more. Nine of those wins were wire-to-wire. On the other side, the Celtics tied for the fewest losses by more than 10 points and lost just three games all season by 20 or more.
Development across the roster was another defining pillar of the season, with Mazzulla and his staff playing a central role in that growth. Eight players set career highs in at least four statistical categories, while nine different players appeared in at least 68 games.
However, the season ended on a far more difficult note. After becoming the first team in franchise history (and one of just 15 in NBA history) to squander a 3-1 series lead, Boston suffered its first first-round playoff exit since 2021, a stark reminder that there is still room for improvement moving forward.
“I thought our coaching staff did an amazing job this year. In the series, I think we all could have done better,” Brad Stevens said last week. “I think our coaching staff, like all of us, can continue to improve and get better. That said, I think they’re very good. And we need to continue to provide them the resources to grow, to get better, and to continue to be the best that we can be. I don’t think we can ignore, and certainly, again, can’t ignore anything, the good and the bad. But there was a lot of growth this year, and I thought that there were a lot of things that we can build off of, even though that ending was disappointing.”
