Celtics' Joe Mazzulla Says Rumors Knicks Pursued Him as HC 'Never Reached Me'
Joe Mazzulla made it perfectly clear Tuesday he is only interested in coaching one NBA team.
"That never reached me," the Boston Celtics coach said Tuesday during an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub (h/t Brian Robb of Mass Live) when addressing rumors the New York Knicks were interested in him.
"There is only one team that I want to coach: it's the Boston Celtics. I'm going to be here for however long ownership and the city will have me. There is no other team that I'm coaching, it's here or I'm going to coach my kid's soccer team or something like that."
The topic of the Knicks came up after NBA insider Marc Stein reported Monday they were at least interested in pursuing him this offseason.
New York reached the Eastern Conference Finals last season under Tom Thibodeau during a run that included a second-round victory over Mazzulla's Celtics. However, the Knicks fired him after falling short of the NBA Finals.
That left them with a vacancy they were reportedly at least interested in filling with Mazzulla, but they ultimately hired Mike Brown. Brown led the 2006-07 Cleveland Cavaliers to the NBA Finals and will be under plenty of pressure to win given how far the Knicks advanced in the playoffs just last season.
Notably, Thibodeau recently visited the Celtics for a practice.
The two Eastern Conference teams face each other on Friday, and Mazzulla's comments about not wanting to leave the Celtics will likely ensure this is a quick storyline that doesn't linger every time these two teams play this season.
Still, it shouldn't be surprising the Knicks were reportedly interested in the Boston coach.
After all, he has found nothing but success in his first three seasons in his role with a 182-64 record and an NBA title.
Boston has reached at least the second round of the playoffs in each of his seasons, although the 2025-26 campaign may be his biggest challenge with Jayson Tatum sidelined by an Achilles injury and the combination of Kristaps Porziņģis, Jrue Holiday and Al Horford no longer on the roster.
If he can coach the Celtics into Eastern Conference contention once again and perhaps even set the stage for a late Tatum return, it will only bolster Mazzulla's standing as one of the best coaches in the league.
