What Joe Mazzulla said about reported Knicks pursuit

Based on longtime NBA insider Marc Stein, the Knicks spent a while wanting into whether or not or not there was a method they might pry Joe Mazzulla away from the Celtics throughout the offseason.

The Knicks fired coach Tom Thibodeau after they beat the Celtics and made the Jap Convention Finals for the primary time since 2000. They finally employed two-time NBA Coach of the 12 months Mike Brown as his substitute.

“But it has additionally been whispered that the Knicks doubtless did some backchannel exploration to find out if there was any pathway to pursue Boston’s Joe Mazzulla,” Stein wrote. “There clearly was not … after which the Celtics prolonged Mazzulla’s contract in August.”

Mazzulla was requested in regards to the report throughout a latest look on 98.5 The Sports activities Hub’s “Zolak and Bertrand.”

“That by no means reached me,” Mazzulla stated. “And there’s just one staff that I need to coach. That’s the Boston Celtics. I’m going to be right here for nonetheless lengthy possession and the town could have me, however there’s no different staff that I’m teaching.”

“It’s right here or I’m going to go coach my child’s soccer staff or one thing like that, you already know?” Mazzulla added. “It’s religion, household, and the Boston Celtics.”

Stein additionally reported that Mazzulla’s contract extension is believed amongst these in teaching circles to be a six-year deal, much like the one Brad Stevens signed with the Celtics when he was introduced on as head coach.

The Johnston, Rhode Island native is getting into his fourth season as Celtics head coach. He gained a title in 2024 and has made the playoffs every season. Final season was the shortest playoff run of his tenure, with the Celtics shedding to the Knicks within the first spherical. Boston was already trailing within the sequence when Jayson Tatum ruptured his achilles tendon.

Mazzulla inherited a Celtics roster that had made the NBA Finals the yr earlier than he took over as interim coach following Ime Udoka’s suspension. They completed one win wanting returning to the Finals in 2023, falling to the Miami Warmth in Recreation 7 of the Jap Convention Finals earlier than reaching the mountaintop in 2024.

Wednesday night time will mark the primary time the Celtics will start a season with out Tatum since he was drafted in 2017.

Mazzulla should adapt with out the multi-time All-Star. The Celtics retooled their lineup after luxurious tax implications incentivized them to maneuver Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Vacation throughout the offseason.

It’s a brand new problem for the Celtics coach, who says he’s right here for the lengthy haul.

Khari A. Thompson

Sports activities Reporter

Khari Thompson covers skilled sports activities for Boston.com. Earlier than becoming a member of the staff in 2022, Khari coated school soccer for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.