The Boston Celtics continue to bolster their coaching staff behind head coach Joe Mazzulla. Boston last week added veteran assistant Sam Cassell to the staff, and now they’re also finalizing a deal to hire Charles Lee as their first assistant coach under Mazzulla, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. Lee has been an assistant in the NBA since 2014 and had coached under Mike Budenholzer all that time. He coached the Atlanta Hawks from 2014 to 2018 and spent the past five seasons in Milwaukee with the Bucks.
Lee is a highly regarded assistant coach and he was a finalist for head coaching appearances with the Detroit Pistons and Toronto Raptors in recent weeks. Both teams eventually went in different directions, leaving Lee available to sign with the Celtics.
After losing to the Miami Heat in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals, there was speculation that the Celtics could depart Mazzulla, but have decided to bolster the staff around him instead. Last week, Celtics general manager Brad Stevens confirmed that he thinks Mazzulla is the right man for the job.
“Yes, I think he is [the best head coach for this team],” Stevens said of Mazzulla at a press conference. “I thought he did really well with this group. Everyone is going to overreact to the best players and coaches after every game. It always goes that way. We know that when we go in so we have to be able to judge things based on the whole.”
Mazzulla suddenly took over as head coach of the Celtics – and with no previous experience – when the team suspended Ime Udoka shortly before the 2022/23 season began. Mazzulla, 34 and the youngest head coach in the league, had to learn how to coach at the highest level on the fly while managing a team with legitimate championship aspirations. Given those circumstances, Stevens was impressed with what he saw from the rookie coach.
“I think when you look at the position he was pushed into and the overall performance of the group, I thought he did really well,” said Stevens. “I mean, if you look at it, in the big picture, and have a team that was second on offense, second on defense, won 57 games and has a shot at going to the NBA Finals on your own court, you know, there’s a lot of direction and organization involved in that. I thought he did a good job.”
With some experience under his belt and an improved coaching staff behind him, the Celtics will expect big things from Mazzulla next season.