Joe Mazzulla Had The Perfect Response To The Celtics Being Snubbed For Every Individual NBA Award

Garrett Ellwood. Getty Images.

If you were to look at the NBA's finalists for their individual awards, you'll notice a certain team is missing

Of all of these categories, there's really only one that I would consider a disaster. 

I must have missed all those expectations and predictions that had the Celtics having one of the greatest regular seasons in NBA history. A lot of people say that COTY is about exceeding expectations, well the Celts were top 3 in terms of their win total exceeding their preseason Vegas number, sooooooo what gives? If you are someone who does not think Joe Mazzulla should win COTY because of what we saw in OKC, fine. I think you're wrong, but fine. To not even be Top 3? That's insane. All this talk about his roster's talent, but does OKC not have a top 2 MVP and a #2 pick? Does MIN not have two #1 picks and a 4x DPOY? Mazzulla threw up a 57 win season after getting the jobs 2 seconds before training camp last year, and then backed that up with 64 wins and the 5th best point differential OF ALL TIME, while having the best offense OF ALL TIME. I dunno, seems like the coach is probably pretty impactful there.

Anyways, what has stood out since Day 1 of this season has been the collective mindset from Wyc to Brad to Joe to the players is that none of this bullshit truly matters. Let others focus on MVP and individual awards, because their goal is something much larger. The level of focus the Celts have played with this entire season is noticeably different, and that's where I think you have to look at Joe. The collective mindset this team has is exactly what we as fans have been praying for, and hearing him talk about all the Celts snubs this year is the latest example

For the guy who has the only real case of a "snub" to be talking like that is everything I want to hear as a fan and then some. Now, do I think that if you gave Mazzulla some truth serum about his COTY snub that he would tell you it's bullshit? Probably. It's legitimately wild that a team that blew doors off the entire league from start to finish somehow wasn't even Top 3, but you can tell that he knows he has to stay locked in and focused with his eyes on the right prize. You know what's better than winning COTY? Becoming a championship winning coach. You know what's better than winning the MVP? A Finals MVP. 

This is also why I'm so excited for Game 2. As awesome as the blowout was in Game 1, I am very interested to see the focus and approach the Celts have tomorrow night. In years past, we all know what usually happened in this spot. The Celts smell their own farts, they start listening to the media talk about how this should be an easy 4-0 sweep, and the next thing you know they drop a brutal game at home and everything they did in Game 1 gets undone. 

It seems like Joe knows this

and frankly, I don't think he gets enough credit for the change in mindset we've seen this year. Time will tell if it eventually pays off, but it's hard to not love what we're hearing. This entire team from the coach on down seems as locked in as ever, and that's the first step to making sure you're the first team to 16 wins.