Back in the spring, the New York Knicks did the unthinkable. They inexplicably fired head coach Tom Thibodeau after somehow beating the Boston Celtics and advancing to their first Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years.
In all seriousness, the feeling surrounding the Knicks was that the team had reached its ceiling under Thibodeau. It was time for a change.
New York ultimately wound up bringing in former NBA Coach of the Year Mike Brown to fill Thibs’ spot, but he was far from the only candidate.
The Knicks left no stone unturned in their search. Apparently, they even wanted to kick the tires on luring Joe Mazzulla away from the Celtics, according to NBA Insider Marc Stein.
“It has also been whispered that the Knicks likely did some backchannel exploration to determine if there was any pathway to pursue Boston's Joe Mazzulla,” Stein said in monday'sSteinline newsletter. “There obviously was not … and then the Celtics extended Mazzulla's contract in August.”
Knicks tried to steal Joe Mazzulla from Celtics
While this is the first time anything involving Mazzulla and New York has been reported, it’s not surprising in the slightest. Again, New York epitomized the adage of “casting a wide net” throughout the coaching search.
They did not care if a candidate was already employed; they were going to ask. New York was denied requests to interview Ime Udoka, Quin Snyder, Chris Finch, Jason Kidd, and Billy Donovan by their respective teams.
As Stein mentioned, Boston gave Mazzulla a contract extension over the summer. To this point, the details of the contract have been pretty scarce, as is typically the case with coach contracts.
However, Stein shared that many who are in NBA circles believe that Mazzulla’s extension is for six seasons.
“Terms were not formally announced on Mazzulla's new pact beyond the Celtics terming it a multiyear contract extension, but there is a belief in coaching circles the new deal is a six-year pact, along the lines of the six-year pact that current Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens initially signed to be Boston's coach when he left the college game in July 2013.”
Extending Mazzulla was really a no-brainer for the Celtics. They’ve done nothing but win since he first stepped in as interim coach back in 2022, before the “interim” tag was removed before that season’s playoffs.
The Rhode Island native has the highest winning percentage ever of any NBA coach who’s coached more than three games. Boston won their 18th NBA title under him, and have made it to at least the Eastern Conference Finals in two of his three seasons.
He’ll have the chance to silence the doubters who somehow remain this season when he’s tasked with winning games with a less-talented roster.