Joe Mazzulla’s ‘beautiful’ response to award snubs

When the snub was brought to the attention of Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, he didn’t respond in anger or annoyance. Instead, he called the outcome “beautiful” and emphasized that his squad isn’t thinking about the regular season right now, via Zach Cox of NESN.

“No, not at all,” Mazzulla answered when asked if he was bothered by his team’s exclusion. “I think it’s beautiful. … Why would you get an award for the past?”

The 2023-24 Celtics are focused on a different reward this season: bringing home Banner No. 18.

What the NBA award snubs say about the Celtics’ sacrifice

During the regular season, the C’s made it clear that they’re prioritizing team success and sacrifice over individual glory.

Celtics star Jayson Tatum perhaps said it best after a regular season contest that many won’t remember, but was important nonetheless.

Following a second-half comeback to beat the lowly Detroit Pistons in overtime in late December, Tatum explained how he’s willing to take on any role to help his team win.

“We’ve had so much team success and had our fair of individual success and accolades, and the only thing left is to really win a championship,” he said. “I’ve been in a lot of games, been in a lot of playoff games, and I understand the value that I bring, and it’s not always about scoring. I know the effect I have on the court, and guys may not help or may be paying too much attention to me, or if I screen, I bring two defenders with me, and my teammates get open, and as you get older, you just realize that kind of opens everything else up for myself and for everybody else.”

Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday all saw their scoring averages go down this season. However, the sacrifices each of them made throughout the 2023-24 campaign resulted in an outstanding 64-18 record. That was enough for the best overall record in the NBA and Boston’s highest win total since the 2007-08 season when the Celtics last won a championship.

If Tatum had more points per game, perhaps he’d be in the running for MVP. If Joe Mazzulla put himself in the spotlight more as his team rattled off win after win, perhaps he’d be a finalist for Coach of the Year.

Yet, no individual Celtic put himself before the team. And while that isn’t conducive to NBA honors and awards, it led to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and a strong sense of togetherness.

As Tatum said, all that’s left for the Celtics is to win their first title in over 15 years. To get to that point though, they’ll first have to go through the pesky Miami Heat.

Boston currently leads its first-round playoff series 1-0 and will host Game 2 on Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET.