Joe Mazzulla turns into star of Celtics title parade despite injury

BOSTON — Joe Mazzulla has been everywhere this week since the Celtics clinched their 18th championship on Monday night at TD Garden. After a quick trip to Miami with the team on Tuesday to celebrate, Mazzulla was back in Boston over the last two nights, parading the Larry O’Brien trophy around the North End to restaurants and other favorite spots.

Mazzulla, a lifelong Celtics fan, was front and center for the team’s championship parade on Boston Duck Boats kicking off at TD Garden on Friday morning. The Celtics coach is still nursing a torn meniscus on his knee that he has dealt with since March but that did not keep him from being one of the more active participants in the parade through downtown Boston.

“I’ll tell you what, it was one of the best things that happened to me for the rest of the season because it put me in this fight or flight mentality where I could just not relax,” Mazzulla explained on Pardon My Take. “I had to constantly train to keep it pain-free, had to constantly get physical therapy. My physical therapist has been great and it was just awesome. I’ve been thinking about maybe getting hurt every All-Star break.”

Despite the painful injury, Mazzulla was spotted standing atop the duck boat roof as it paraded around the streets of Boston. He also jumped off the duck boat at one point of the festivities to high five the crowd packing the streets as they celebrated the 18th championship in Celtics franchise history.

Mazzulla was also honored by his hometown state of Rhode Island with a ‘Joe Mazzulla’ Day by Governor McKee in the midst of the title festivities. Mazzulla is set to undergo knee surgery on his torn meniscus in two weeks, at which point he plans to start preparing for Boston’s title defense.