According to a recent report from Sportico, Joe Mazzulla is one of the highest-paid head coaches in the NBA. The Boston Celtics' bench boss has the fourth-highest salary among his peers.
The same is true for Ime Udoka of the Houston Rockets and Rick Carlisle of the Indiana Pacers. Their contracts reportedly carry an average annual value of $11 million.
Steve Kerr, the Golden State Warriors' head coach, has the highest annual salary among all NBA head coaches at $17.5 million. Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat and the Los Angeles Clippers' bench boss, Ty Lue, are both earning $15 million.
Joe Mazzulla is worth every penny
The Celtics' bench boss is 197-74 in his four years at the helm. He knows how to maximize his personnel, instills buy-in throughout the roster, and has infused his mentality into the team.
Jayson Tatum framing pressure and criticism as privileges that come with the stardom he sought since childhood is a prime example. So is the team growing to relish facing adversity in pressure-packed moments. Like getting better at managing leads and handling when the opposition makes a run, these are signs of maturation. The credit doesn't solely belong to one person. However, it has always been evident that Mazzulla has played a significant role in that development.
Yes, Boston had the talent necessary to cap the 2023-24 campaign with a championship. The Celtics weren't the only ones with a roster capable of doing so. The job Mazzulla did, schematically and in shaping his team's mindset, was crucial to their lifting the Larry O'Brien Trophy that season.
Deploying Jrue Holiday in the dunker spot against the Dallas Mavericks in the Finals, pulling their rim protectors from the basket, is an example of the former. How Boston navigated late deficits on the road against the Indiana Pacers and a tightly contested fourth quarter in Game 3 in Dallas captures the latter.
What Mazzulla is doing this season is even more impressive, in this author's opinion. The Celtics have overhauled their approach at both ends of the floor.
Defensively, they're more aggressive, hunting for turnovers. Their foul rate has skyrocketed from the second-fewest in the league to the fifth-most. Generally speaking, they're ok with paying that price for generating more transition opportunities, aiding their struggles on the defensive glass, and helping in their efforts to produce more shots than their opponents. Operating this way is essential to Boston yielding the third-fewest points per game, surrendering just 110.8 per contest.
At the other end of the floor, the Celtics are running beautiful, multi-layered actions. They're combining elements from different sets, there's constant cutting, and well-timed screens. The result is that despite missing Tatum, Boston has the third-highest offensive rating in the Association.
Before the current campaign began, the Johnston, Rhode Island native signed a multi-year extension. He has responded with a masterful performance that is helping maximize a roster defined by players eager to prove themselves with more responsibility.
The Celtics are home to one of the NBA's most encouraging youth movements this season. What that also reflects is that from Jordan Walsh and Josh Minott to Neemias Queta, Hugo Gonzalez, and Baylor Scheierman, individuals who hadn't proven themselves in the league yet are starting to carve out their place in it to varying degrees.
At this juncture in the season, this author views Mazzulla as the most deserving recipient of the NBA's Coach of the Year Award.
Fortunately for the Celtics, he's in a position to vie for that honor for years to come while guiding a franchise aiming to swiftly return to being a consistent title contender.