Ime Udoka disqualified by the Celtics, and perhaps soon sacked, is Joe Mazzulla who will temporarily assume the role of head coach of Boston. But who is the new strongman of the Beantown franchise?
When Arsène Wenger arrived at Arsenal in 1996, the British press seemed surprised by this choice. “Arsene who? we can read in the media. So inevitably, when we saw who would replace Ime Udoka in Boston, a sentence burned our letters. Joe who? Joe Mazzulla in truth. Who is the one who will train the latest NBA finalist? A former West Virginia NCAA player, Joe Mazzulla never exported his talents to the NBA. Not enlisted, he very quickly opted for a coaching career. Throughout the 2010s, he held assistant positions, mainly in the NCAA but also for a year at the Maine Red Claws, the Boston Celtics-affiliated G League team. It wasn’t until 2019 that he joined the green franchise as an assistant to Brad Stevens. When Ime Udoka arrives at TD Garden in 2021, he manages to keep his place on the staff, especially since he is much appreciated by the group. A version confirmed by Udoka during the last Playoffs. Comments transcribed by Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston.
“I spoke to everyone in the organization when I was hired, including the players, and Mazzulla only received rave reviews. I didn’t know much about him before I was hired. I attach great importance to the opinion of the players. He was a man of consent. He is someone who everyone has worked closely with, believed in and understood the potential of. “
The boy is therefore appreciated by the players and in particular by the managers such as a certain Jayson Tatum, a local star.
“It has helped me enormously as a player and as a person. I have nothing but good things to say about Joe. Everyone appreciates him and appreciates what he brings to this team. I’m glad we have it. “
Although he was supposed to take the lead in the staff this summer, becoming one of Udoka’s main assistants, Mazzulla will take the number 1 costume at only 34 years old. It’s a hell of a bet for the franchise to bet on such a young manager. He certainly has ten years of experience behind him, but he only coached two years as head coach and that was at university (between 2017 and 2019). Will he be able to bring the Celtics back to the NBA Finals? Either way, he will have a lot of pressure to endure for his first time driving a franchise. Pressures that will come from the field but not only … From the appointment of Mazzulla ad interim, in fact, old cards have emerged. It is in particular about several court cases from his time as a college player. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to underage alcoholism and aggravated assault. In 2009 he was arrested for domestic assault. He would have been specifically a woman grabbed by the neck in a bar … Finally, he was summoned in 2010 for urinating in public in downtown Morgantown. Several cases that are summarized in a 2010 article by ESPN’s Eamonn Brennan.
So surely we are talking about facts that date back several years but given the speed with which the practices have emerged, we can expect that the Celtics will have to handle some embarrassing questions in the coming days. For example, the Blazers found themselves with a similar case last year when the appointment of Chauncey Billups, accused of sexual assault in 1997. Suffice it to say, the Celtics may not cut it.
New Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla is about to face a big challenge in Beantown. His sporting and non-sporting past already raises many questions, it is up to him to prove that he is the man for the job to bring Boston to the top.
Source text: ESPN / NBC Sports Boston
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