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The name Joe Mazzulla kept surfacing all season as the Boston Celtics continued to win games many believed were out of reach. Entering the 2025-26 campaign, Boston looked vulnerable. Jayson Tatum was sidelined for months recovering from a torn Achilles, key veterans were gone, and the roster no longer carried the same aura that surrounded the team during its championship run. Around the league, some quietly framed the year as a transition season. Mazzulla never bought into that idea.

Instead, the Celtics finished 56-26 and secured the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, a result few saw coming last fall. On Tuesday, the NBA rewarded that work by naming Mazzulla the league’s Coach of the Year. At 37, he became the youngest coach to win the award since Phil Johnson in 1975 and the first Celtics coach to earn the honor since Bill Fitch in 1980.

Joe Mazzulla wins NBA Coach of the Year

Joe Mazzulla received 62 of 100 first-place votes, finishing ahead of J.B. Bickerstaff and Mitch Johnson after guiding Boston through one of the most difficult seasons of his coaching career. The Celtics lost experienced pieces like Kristaps Porziņģis, Jrue Holiday and Al Horford, yet still remained one of the league’s most disciplined teams on both ends of the floor.


Boston ranked near the top of the NBA in offensive and defensive rating while continuing to play with structure and consistency. Mazzulla’s regular-season winning percentage now sits at an impressive .726 through four seasons.

Still, the Celtics coach directed most of the attention elsewhere after the award announcement.

“There’s so much that goes into winning one game,” Mazzulla said. “It starts with the players, but it goes to our staff. I feel bad that they’re not here, but forever indebted to the guys that we have that give up their time with their families to give us a chance to win every day. …

“I truly want to thank my staff. I love those guys.”

That response sounded familiar to anyone who has followed him closely. Mazzulla has consistently minimized individual recognition, even joking in the past that “nobody cares” about coaching awards.

Joe Mazzulla's salary and contract details

The Celtics made their belief in Mazzulla clear long before this award arrived. In August 2025, team president Brad Stevens confirmed Boston had signed the coach to a multiyear contract extension. Financial terms were never publicly disclosed, but the move reinforced how highly the franchise values his leadership.

Mazzulla joined Boston as an assistant in 2019 before unexpectedly becoming interim head coach ahead of the 2022-23 season following Ime Udoka’s suspension. Since then, he has delivered at least 57 wins in every full season and guided the franchise to its 18th NBA title in 2024.

“He understands the job and has a passion for the Celtics that is only rivaled by our most die-hard fans,” Stevens said.

Joe Mazzulla's family

Away from basketball, Mazzulla often points toward family as the foundation behind his rise. He has been married to his wife, Camai Mazzulla, since 2014 after the two first met while coaching at Glenville State College.

Camai eventually stepped away from coaching to support Joe’s growing NBA ambitions while building her own career in criminal justice. Together, they are raising two sons, Michael and Emmanuel.

Mazzulla has never hidden how much that support matters to him.

“Under the circumstances of last year, a lot of families could break apart and go the other way," Joe said. "I felt like the biggest gift last year brought was our marriage got stronger and our family got closer, because we were navigating something new together and nobody else could understand what we were learning and going through."

The couple has two sons together.