The NBA announced their Coach of the Year Award Sunday afternoon and while Joe Mazzulla wasn't among the three finalists he did receive plenty of votes.
The Celtics head coach finished in fourth, with Massachusetts native Mark Daigneault of the Oklahoma City Thunder took home the honor. Orlando Magic's Jamahl Mosley and Minnesota Timberwolves' Chris Finch finished second and third, respectively.
The complete voting results for the 2023-24 NBA Coach of the Year. pic.twitter.com/QatGZpJjYj
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 28, 2024
Mazzulla, who won Coach of the Month twice during the regular season, received with two first-place votes, 16 second-place votes and 21 third-place votes -- as the Celtics concluded with a league-best 64-18 record while posting a 11.4-point differential (the fifth-largest in league history). The team was also rated top in offense and second defensively.
"Joe has definitely found his footing, just the growth from last year to this year," Jaylen Brown said in his post-practice presser Monday. "I think a lot of it had to do with being in an interim role and not being as secure with the staff, and now this year, you can notice the difference. I think we've been organized, I think we know what we want to get and it's been great. I give a lot of credit to the coaching staff and Joe I think has been really good this year."
It was a season ago Mazzulla finished third in Coach of the Year results behind none other than Daigneault with no first-place votes, 18 second-place votes and 23 third-place votes.
Former Celtic coach Ime Udoka finished seventh after his first year at the helm of the Houston Rockets and behind Miami Heat's head coach Erik Spoelstra for sixth in this year's voting.
Joel Pavón
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