Overview
- Mazzulla, asked before Monday’s game in Atlanta, called Coach of the Year a “stupid award” and told reporters not to ask about it again.
- Oddsmakers still rank him among the top contenders, with several books listing him behind Pistons coach J. B. Bickerstaff.
- The Celtics have reached 50 wins and hold the East’s No. 2 seed after playing most of the season without Jayson Tatum, who recently returned.
- The exchange spread quickly on X in a season where his terse press remarks have often gone viral.
- Some analysts, including former Celtic Kendrick Perkins, criticized the comment as disrespectful to past coaching honorees.