New England Dominating NBA With Recent Eye-Popping Success originally appeared on NESN.
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Basketball was invented in Massachusetts, so it’s not surprising that New England is a hoops hotbed.
That’s remained true for over a century, especially in 2026. Look no further than some of the NBA’s recent award winners, where New Englanders are dominating.
Rhode Island native Joe Mazzulla won his first NBA Coach of the Year award on Tuesday. While the Boston Celtics lost in the first round of the playoffs, they had a phenomenal regular season that far exceeded expectations.
Despite parting ways with much of their championship core last summer and losing Jayson to an Achilles injury for most of the season, the Celtics didn’t skip a beat. Mazzulla led them to a 56-26 record and the two seed in the Eastern Conference, getting the most out of an undermanned and inexperienced roster.
Coach of the Year – Rhode Island
Rookie of the Year – Maine
The #1 Draft Pick – Massachusetts
Shout out to New England in the NBA
— GreenRunsDeep (@CelticsGRD) May 27, 2026
Meanwhile, Maine native Cooper Flagg won NBA Rookie of the Year honors for his stellar season with the Dallas Mavericks. The top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft lived up to the hype, averaging 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game in his age-19 season.
Luka Doncic may be gone, but the future is still fairly bright in Dallas thanks to Flagg. Boston fans are already dreaming of him potentially playing for the Celtics someday.
Like Flagg, the first overall pick of the 2026 NBA Draft will likely be a New Englander as well. A 19-year-old out of BYU, Massachusetts native AJ Dybantsa Jr. is expected to go first overall to the Washington Wizards next month.
In other words, New England rules the basketball world, regardless of what the Celtics do this summer.
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