Green Light: RI Native Joe Mazzulla Named Boston Celtics Head Coach

BOSTON, MA — When Joe Mazzulla shows up on the sideline of the NBA All-Star game in Salt Lake City this weekend the Johnston, RI native will do so with a new title as officially the head coach of the Boston Celtics.

Mazzulla spent the first 59 games of the season working under the "interim" head coach tag after being named to replace the suspended Ime Udoka on the eve of training camp in September. He has since guided the Celtics to the best record in the NBA — thus earning the honor of coaching in this weekend's All-Star game with his staff.

The 34-year-old becomes the 19th official coach in franchise history and only the third to coach the All-Star game in his first year.

The former Bishop Hendricken (RI) star went on to the University of West Virginia where he helped lead the Mountaineers to the NCAA Tournament for four straight years.

He served as the coach of the Celtics' G League affiliate Maine Red Claws (now the Maine Celtics) before joining the Boston staff in 2019. He was the lone coach retained when Udoka took over the reins from Brad Stevens at the start of the 2021-22 season and was named interim head coach when Udoka was suspended for a violation of team rules — which reports revealed as an inappropriate sexual relationship with a team employee — at the dawn of the season.

Despite all the turmoil to start training camp, the defending Eastern Conference champions raced out to a torrid pace to start the season with an 18-4 record through Nov. 30 as Mazzulla was named the NBA's first Coach of the Month Award winner.

The Celtics are an NBA-best 42-17 heading into the All-Star Game following Wednesday night's 127-109 victory against the Detroit Pistons at TD Garden.

"As he has shown, Joe is a very talented coach and leader," Stevens, now the team's President of Basketball Operations, said in a statement Thursday morning. "He has a unique ability to galvanize a room around a mission.

"We are thankful for the work he has done to help us get to this point, and excited that he has agreed to lead us into the future."

Along with the new title, the Celtics said on Thursday that Mazzulla has agreed to a contract extension.

Mazzulla will coach Team Giannis in the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday. Celtics players Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum also earned All-Star invitations.

"I'm definitely excited about it," he told reporters of that honor following Wednesday night's game. "I'm excited for what it represents for the players, the staff and the organization. I'm excited to experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"There is a time and a place for it and from now until Sunday night I am going to do my best to be present, and enjoy our staff and some of the players, and just the environment."

The status of Udoka, who was suspended by the team for at least one year following the accusations this past fall, was unclear as of late Thursday morning beyond that the Celtics feel comfortable moving forward under Mazzulla as the head coach beyond this season.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)