Boston Celtics: Breaking down Ime Udoka’s talented coaching staff

The Boston Celtics should be fully prepared for the upcoming season as they finally put the cherry on top of this offseason cake by finalizing the rest of Ime Udoka’s coaching staff. After an offseason of retooling, it seems like naming the coaching staff was the last thing that needed to be done prior to the start of camp.

Throughout Udoka’s 12-year playing career in the pros, he’s made many connections and has networked with a variety of former players and great basketball minds along the way. In doing so, there’s a handful of those very people that Udoka hired onto his staff.

Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka finalized his staff and has brought in a talented group, most of which are San Antonio Spurs affiliates.

There’s something to be said about coaching at the professional level. Most professional head coaches want to build their own coaching staff with the people they believe in and trust the most. It’s rare in most sports when a team brings in a new head coach that doesn’t hire their own staff.

That said, however, it’s worth mentioning that the Boston Celtics did have two coaching candidates that were going to be part of the coaching staff this season, regardless of Udoka being here or not. So without further ado, let’s take a look at who Udoka made part of his coaching staff with the Boston Celtics this upcoming season.

Boston Celtics assistant – Joe Mazzulla

During his playing days, Mazzulla led West Virginia to the Final Four in 2010. He finished his college career producing 700 points and 340 assists upon going undrafted in 2011.

After going undrafted, Mazzulla immediately got into coaching. Holding much knowledge of the game, Mazzulla landed a couple of assistant coaching jobs in the NCAA. However, in the 2016-17 season, Mazzulla served as an assistant coach for the Maine Red Claws in the G-League. Perhaps putting his name on the map for the Boston Celtics.

The following season in 2017, Mazzulla earned his first head coaching position at Fairmont State. He led his team to a 22-9 record and a spot in the NCAA Division II Tournament. Mazzulla has a 43-17 record in his two seasons as a head coach.

Mazzulla was then hired by the Boston Celtics as an assistant in 2019 under Stevens and is the only coach remaining from Stevens’ staff. Mazzulla is probably best known in Boston for reinventing Romeo Langford’s shooting motion with the ping pong paddle.

As a coach, Mazzulla is great. He isn’t that far removed from the game and can understand most of the young players on the team. He’s also been around the growth of the core group of players, which is important in some ways.

It’s also worth mentioning that Mazzulla could very well be one of the top seven shooters on the Celtics, despite being a coach.

Boston Celtics assistant – Tony Dobbins

Tony Dobbins went undrafted in 2004 and went on to become a champion and an accomplished player overseas. From 2004-2017, Dobbins was playing throughout some of the best leagues in Italy, Spain, France, and Greece.

The Boston Celtics added Dobbins to their video and film team, however, he’s done some player development work for them as well. This promotion was put in place for Dobbins last year to replace Kara Lawson after she accepted her head coaching position at Duke.

Stevens and the Celtics saw qualities in Dobbins that would benefit the team by having him on the bench and more involved with the players. Most basketball-minded video/film people turn out to be great coaches, just look at how far Eric Spoelstra has come; he’s one of the best coaches in the NBA.

Boston Celtics assistant – Will Hardy

Will Hardy is known for being a long-time assistant with the Spurs and has been involved with the organization since he interned in 2010. Hardy was on the coaching staff for the 2019 FIBA World Cup team and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He’s also been the head coach of the Spurs’ Summer League teams in 2017 and 2018.

Hardy has been groomed under one of the best coaches the NBA has to offer in Greg Popovich for the last 11 seasons. Not to mention being around a few players who were at one time considered to be the best trio in the league in Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobbli.

It’s fair to say that Udoka sees similar qualities in the core group of the Celtics to the ones of those championship Spurs teams from the early 2000s when they won three championships in five years and another in 2014 with the same group.

Hardy and Udoka must share similar philosophies as a coach with each other considering they were both under Popovich for so long. Hardy is a great addition to the Boston Celtics, kudos to Udoka for bringing him in.

Boston Celtics assistant – Damon Stoudamire

Damon Stoudamire is a 13-year NBA veteran and an accomplished Division I college head coach. He spent the last five seasons as the head coach at the University of Pacific. Stoudamire led his team to school records and earned National Coach of the Year honors. He previously assisted with the Memphis Grizzlies from 2009-2011, making it his only NBA experience.

The connection between Stoudamire and Udoka is that they were teammates on the Spurs in 2008. He’s a great coach and should prove to be an asset for the Boston Celtics and their young players.

Boston Celtics assistant – Ben Sullivan

Ben Sullivan is another Spurs affiliate that Udoka added to his staff. He started his career as a video coordinator for the Spurs who would often find himself in the basketball development department with the organization.

Sullivan has spent the last seven years as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks and most recently with the Milwaukee Bucks, where he was part of an NBA championship team.

Boston Celtics assistant – Aaron Miles

Aaron Miles had a 10-year professional career after going undrafted in the NBA Draft. Miles became an accomplished player in the Euro League where he became a champion and one of their top players.

When he decided to retire from the court, Miles quickly began working as a coach without any time in between. He went back to his alma mater of Kansas and was an assistant coach for the 2015-16 season.

Miles eventually became the head coach of the Santa Cruz Warriors, the G-League affiliate team of the Golden State Warriors, from 2017-19. Which paved his way to landing in the NBA as a player development coach for the Warriors.

I’m unsure how Udoka and Miles know each other on a professional level. However, the two coaches are both from Portland, Oregon and went to the same high school. Udoka is however six years older than Miles.