On July 2, 2025, the Maine Celtics named Phil Pressey their new head coach, tasking the former NBA guard with leading Boston’s G League affiliate for the 2025–26 season. The hire is historic for the franchise: Pressey becomes the 11th head coach in team history and the first who also previously suited up for Maine. The organization announced the move with a celebratory “BIG NEWS” blast across its social channels, underscoring both Pressey’s ties to the club and its developmental mission.
Pressey, 34, arrives in Portland after two seasons on Joe Mazzulla’s Boston Celtics staff, where he contributed to the group that captured the 2024 NBA championship. Before hopping on the NBA bench, he began his coaching journey at his alma mater, Missouri, in 2022. As a player, Pressey logged NBA time with the Celtics, 76ers and Suns, and carved out a robust overseas résumé that included stops with FC Barcelona and Beşiktaş. He also authored one of the most memorable single-game efforts in Maine history, dropping 34 points for the then–Red Claws during the 2014–15 season while on assignment from Boston.
For Boston’s player-development pipeline, the promotion is a logical next step. Pressey’s recent hands-on work with the Celtics’ young talent, combined with his vantage point as a former undersized point guard who had to win with feel, pace, and preparation, should translate neatly to the day-to-day demands of the G League. The Maine job increasingly functions as an incubator for both prospects and coaches; Pressey’s ascent reinforces that the parent club values continuity, shared terminology, and aligned principles from Causeway Street to Portland.
According to his updated biography, Pressey replaces Tyler Lashbrook, inheriting a program that has routinely been asked to balance winning with the rapid upskilling of two-way players and late-first or second-round draft picks. With Boston expected to field another contender in 2025–26, the ability of Maine’s staff to keep depth pieces sharp and scheme-ready will remain pivotal.
In short, Maine is betting that Pressey’s full-circle journey—from Celtic, to Red Claw, to NBA champion assistant, and now to head coach—will resonate in a locker room packed with ambitious pros chasing their own call-ups. If his playing and coaching trajectory is any indication, expect a detail-obsessed, defense-forward, ball-movement ethos—and a coach who can credibly tell players he’s lived every rung of the ladder they’re trying to climb.
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