Joe Mazzulla became the youngest coach since the late, great Bill Russell won an NBA title Monday night when his Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks 106-88. But the 35-year-old Mazzulla has one thing Russell didn’t: a torn meniscus.
During the post-win festivities, Mazzulla spoke with “SportsCenter” and was asked about his celebration plans. He revealed that he doesn’t have one, as he has to undergo surgery to repair a torn meniscus.
“Hey guess what?” said Mazzulla. ‘I have to have knee surgery. “I tore my meniscus in March after we lost to Atlanta… I’ve been out for a while, I’ve been dealing with it since March.”
The Celtics played the Atlanta Hawks on March 25 and 28. Both games were in Atlanta and both were losses for the Celtics. Mazzulla has been working on this for almost three months. Hopefully he’ll have a chance to celebrate before he goes into surgery.
Mazzulla wasn’t the only coach to be on the sidelines with an injury during the playoffs. Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch tore his patellar tendon in Game 4 of the Wolves’ first-round series win over the Phoenix Sun. He collided with his own player, Mike Conley Jr., on the sideline and spent several games on the bench in the second round after surgery.
