Wiggy: Joe Mazzulla is the best coach in the NBA
Joe Mazzulla is living proof of the 'winning changes everything' adage. Even some of Boston's players were stunned when he was promoted to head coach after Ime Udoka's suspension.
Now, two seasons and a championship ring later, Boston's lovable psycho has landed himself in the conversation as one of the best coaches in the NBA. But can we go a step further and label him the best coach in the association?
That's what Jermaine Wiggins did Wednesday morning on WEEI's The Greg Hill Show while reacting to Mazzulla's comments that winning rings in Boston is the "expectation" and "standard."
"That is Joe Mazzulla, a.k.a. 'Clapback Joe,' a.k.a. 'We got a target on our chest' Joe, a.k.a. the best coach in the NBA right now," Wiggy said.
Greg Hill tried to slow him down, suggesting that Erik Spoelstra was better, a suggestion that Wiggy then shook off.
"Think of how young Joe Mazzulla is and what he's done with this team," Courtney Cox said.
Chris Curtis disagreed with that idea, saying that he hasn't done that much with the roster.
"If you're going to come at Joe Mazzulla," Cox said, "Joe Mazzulla was able to get all of these great players, this very talented team, on the same page. Other coaches haven't been able to win a championship with these same guys."
Curtis attributed the championship to the loss of Marcus Smart, whom Curtis believed was holding them back from winning.
"Marcus Smart was on the team, precluding them from being a unit. That subtraction was an addition to the success of the organization. I think, of course, Erik Spoelstra wins a championship with this team, of course," Curtis said.
He also said that Spoelstra is definitively the better coach.
"Every year he gets more out of less," Curtis said.
"I'm not saying that Mazzulla should be fired. I was dead wrong. He won a championship. I was wrong a thousand times. But to say that he's the best coach in the NBA, that's like saying the Yankees manager is always the best manager."
Hill said Spoelstra's case is improved by winning more than one championship.
"When he won his championships, did he not have the best team in the NBA, hands down, with LeBron James, [Dwyane] Wade and Chris Bosh?" Wiggy asked.
Curtis said that Spoelstra's coaching prowess has only been shown post-LeBron, saying he was a "punchline" during the Heatles era.
Is Mazzulla viewed in a similarly unserious way, given the immense amount of talent on Boston's roster at the moment?
"The whole national narrative after they won was like, they only won because they had an easy road," Cox said. "They're not putting it on the talent."
If you still don't think Mazzulla and the Celtics are discounted, look no further than the betting odds for Coach of the Year. Mazzulla currently has the ninth-best odds to win Coach of the Year, at +1600, behind people like Ime Udoka, Jamahl Mosley, and Willie Green.
I guess we have to add Mazzulla to the list of Boston Celtics who still feel like they have more to prove in a title defense year.
