Where Joe Mazzulla finished in Coach of the Year voting originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Joe Mazzulla won’t add an NBA Coach of the Year award to his list of accomplishments as a first-year head coach.
Mazzulla was named a finalist for the honor, but it was Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown taking home the hardware. Brown, who led the Kings to No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, is the first coach ever to win the award by unanimous decision.
Oklahoma City Thunder coach Mark Daigneault finished second and Mazzulla placed third in the balloting. You can see the full results below:
Forsberg: MVP chants are proof of how far Derrick White has come
The last Celtics coach to win the NBA Coach of the Year award was Bill Fitch in 1979-80.
Mazzulla was initially elevated from Boston Celtics assistant to interim head coach following Ime Udoka’s season-long suspension for violating team rules. In February, the C’s removed Mazzulla’s interim tag to officially make him the 19th head coach in franchise history.
Under Mazzulla, the Celtics went 57-25 in the regular season to finish as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. They currently have a 2-0 series lead over the Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
C’s-Hawks Game 3 is set for 7 p.m. ET Friday in Atlanta.