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Celtics’ coach Joe Mazzulla to have offseason meniscus surgery

2024 NBA Finals - Game Five

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - JUNE 17: Head coach Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics yells while lifting the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy after Boston’s 106-88 win against the Dallas Mavericks in Game Five of the 2024 NBA Finals at TD Garden on June 17, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

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BOSTON — Joe Mazzulla was playing hurt.

The Boston Celtics coach suffered a torn meniscus after a loss to Atlanta in March and will have to undergo offseason surgery, he admitted in a postgame interview on ESPN. He just coached through it during the final weeks of the season and the playoffs.

“I’m gonna be out a little while.”

Mazzulla and Kristaps Porzingis — who also admitted he would need off-season surgery to repair his torn medial retinaculum (which allowed the dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon) — can be rehab buddies.

But nothing softens the pain of surgery and rehab like the memory of an NBA championship.