Joe Mazzulla had brutally honest advice for new Hornets head coach Charles Lee

Joe Mazzulla had brutally honest advice for new Hornets head coach Charles Lee

The Charlotte Hornets hired 39-year-old Charles Lee as the team’s next coach Thursday morning. But Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla offered some brutally honest advice for his top assistant for his new position.

“Everybody hates you,” Mazzulla said Thursday, when asked about if he had any advice for Lee. “Get used to it. You’re no longer the nice, shiny toy.”

Ah, yes, classic Joe with his dry, blunt–and unintentionally funny–humor.

Though he’s … not wrong?

You could make the argument that coaches are the foremost to blame most often from game-to-game or quarter-to-quarter, whether it’s the rotations, adjustments, calling timeouts, etc.

Based on Mazzulla’s career path, it makes sense. Let’s not forget he became the Celtics’ head coach just weeks before the start of the 2022-23 season after Ime Udoka was let go–and suspended–for the entire season for violating team policy . He was previously the team’s fourth assistant, so that transition was never going to be easy. Boston flamed out in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Miami Heat and Mazzulla, 35, was under heavy scrutiny all season.

To some extent, some of it was a fair criticism. At times, he looked like a deer in the headlights on the sideline.

But the second-year head coach improved a lot with a full offseason under his belt, especially after he was able to add assistants with more experience. It helped that the team made swings to acquire both Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday in the offseason to bolster its top-end talent. But Mazzulla–while he still has shortcomings (every coach does, to some extent)–improved. He helped the Celtics go 64-18 and deserves credit for the adjustments made to blow past Miami–albeit without Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier .

Lee will now be another young head coach in a new position. Charlotte was tied for the league’s third-worst record last year and will have to figure out how to maximize the talent surrounding LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller , who was the No. 2 pick in last year’s draft.

It will be a steep mountain for Lee to climb. I don’t expect it to be all the way climbed in ’24-25. Though over time, Lee–a disciple of Mike Budenholzer–could help get this team back to the postseason for the first time since 2015-16 if he’s surrounded by the proper complementary talent.

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