Copyright NBC10 Boston
Joe Mazzulla did his best Jordan Belfort impression Tuesday afternoon. During his weekly appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Zolak & Bertrand, Mazzulla was asked about a recent report from Substack's Marc Stein, who noted there were "whispers" around the league that the New York Knicks "likely did some backchannel exploration" to determine if there was any way they could poach the Celtics head coach from Boston over the summer. Mazzulla's response? "That never reached me. There's only one team that I want to coach: It's the Boston Celtics." MORE CELTICS COVERAGE The feeling apparently is mutual, as the Celtics signed Mazzulla to a multi-year contract extension in August. According to Stein, there's a belief that Mazzulla's deal is six years, which would keep him in Boston until the 2030s. Of course, a lot could change over the next six years. But Mazzulla, who grew up in Rhode Island as a Celtics fan, insists he has no desire to coach anywhere else in the NBA. "I'm gonna be here for however long ownership and the city will have me," Mazzulla said. "But there's no other team that I'm coaching. It's here, or I'm gonna go coach my kid's soccer team or something like that." "It's faith, family and the Boston Celtics," Mazzulla added. Mazzulla may be fully committed to Boston as a coach, but he's not completely averse to anything Knicks-related. The Celtics head coach welcomed Tom Thibodeau -- who led New York to a second-round playoff series victory over Boston this past spring before the Knicks fired him in June -- to the team's practice Tuesday. "That was awesome having Thibs,” Celtics star Jaylen Brown said Tuesday. "Obviously they eliminated us last year, so him being able to give some of the thoughts that he saw in that series and some of the stuff that they broke down in our personnel, or even our team, helps us grow and learn from that. ... So I value that." Mazzulla, Brown and the 2025-26 Celtics face a stiff challenge this season, as they lost four core members of their 2024 championship team -- Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kornet and Al Horford -- and will be without superstar Jayson Tatum for the foreseeable future as he rehabs from a ruptured Achilles. Regardless of how this season plays out, however, it sounds like Mazzulla is in it for the long haul.
