Celtics Rumors: HC Mazzulla 'Was Never in Trouble' for Heat Loss amid Hot Seat Buzz

The Boston Celtics reportedly never considered firing coach Joe Mazzulla despite buzz he could be on the hot seat.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst said on The Hoop Collective podcast Tuesday that speculation about Mazzulla's status was overblown.

"At the end of the season, there were a lot of people who thought Joe Mazzulla was in some level of trouble—to the point where Brad Stevens needed to say in his press conference interview that [Mazzulla] is coming back," Windhorst said (9:22 mark). "Not only was [Mazzulla] never in trouble, Brad Stevens' biggest moves as the president of the team has been to lean into more of the way Joe Mazzulla wants to play, which is high-volume three-point shooting and offense over defense.

"They are absolutely headlong in to the Mazzulla mindset, and the Mazzulla mindset is shaped by Brad Stevens, too. This is the way Stevens and Mazzulla want to play."

The Celtics' most notable moves this offseason included the trade of Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of a deal to acquire Kristaps Porziņģis and the sign-and-trade of Grant Williams to the Dallas Mavericks. Boston's few free-agent signings have been the low-cost moves of adding Oshae Brissett and Dalano Banton to the roster for depth.

Mazzulla was originally brought in as an assistant under Stevens in 2019 during the latter's coaching tenure. When Stevens stepped away from coaching to take a front office role in 2021, Mazzulla stayed as an assistant under Ime Udoka.

Stevens named Mazzulla the Celtics' interim coach after Udoka was suspended for the 2022-23 season due to inappropriate workplace conduct. The Celtics named Mazzulla their full-time coach in February.

It was a meteoric rise for the 35-year-old Mazzulla, who had no NBA coaching experience before joining the Celtics. His only head coaching experience was a stint at Fairmont State, a Division II college in West Virginia.

There were some clear growing pains as Mazzulla adapted to his responsibilities, but Boston ultimately made it to the Eastern Conference Finals before losing to the Miami Heat in seven games.