Two years after winning the NBA championship, Joe Mazzulla has earned another big honour.

Mazzulla guided his team to a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference with a 56-26 record in his fourth season with the club before the team lost in a seven-game, first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Celtics finished near the top of the East despite missing Jayson Tatum (recovering from a torn Achilles) for most of the season.

The Detroit Pistons’ J.B. Bickerstaff and the San Antonio Spurs’ Mitch Johnson were the other finalists for the award.