Marc Stein revealed Joe Mazzulla’s interest in the ‘Whispers’ Knicks

When is it The New York Knicks fired head coach Tom Thibodeau earlier this year they were swinging for the fences, so to speak, of his successor.

Although Thibodeau led the Knicks to their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance in a quarter-century, after a six-game series loss to the Indiana Pacers, Thibodeau was relieved of his duties. That caused a flurry reported New York attempts to hire one of the best coaches in the NBA, incl Boston Celtics‘ Joe Mazzullaaccording to insider Mark Stein.

In addition to a formal request (and being denied the chance) to interview Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks, Chris Finch of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Billy Donovan of the Chicago Bulls, Ime Udoku of the Houston Rockets and Quin Snyder of the Atlanta Hawks, the Knicks considered Mazzula the NBA’s leading u20 before settling on recently fired Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown.

“However, there have also been whispers that the Knicks likely explored back channels to see if there was any way they could pursue Joe Mazzula from Boston. Apparently there wasn’t … and then the Celtics extended Mazzulla’s contract in August,” Stein wrote on his newsletter, The Stein Line.

“The terms of Mazzulla’s new deal have not been officially announced, aside from the Celtics, who call for a multi-year deal, but coaching circles believe the new deal is a six-year deal, in line with the six-year deal current Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens originally signed to coach Boston on July 20 when he left the game in 2013.

Macula, among the youngest coaches in NBA history to win a championship, became the Celtics’ interim coach just before the 2022-23 season after then-Celtics head coach Ime Udoka was suspended by the team for the entire year. Although he was often maligned for his decision-makingBoston won 57 games and earned the second seed in the Eastern Conference. After wins against the Hawks and Philadelphia 76ers, the Celtics lost in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Miami Heat.

The following year, after the temporary tag was removed, Macula led the Celtics to a league-best 64 wins, the top seed in the East and a quick run through the playoffs. With 16 wins in 19 games, the Celtics made quick work of their opponents, including Kidd and the Mavericks, to win the NBA championship.

Despite that suffering an upset to the Knicks in the second round last spring, Macula, just a few years removed from frequent criticism, was heralded as one of the best coaches in the NBA.

The Celtics open the season tomorrow night against the 76ers before traveling to New York to play the Knicks on Friday. Before the game against the Celtics, the Knicks visit the Cleveland Cavaliers tomorrow night.