ADVERTISEMENT
BOSTON – Watch the Boston Celtics bench as the players go through their pregame routine and one sees the team’s president of basketball operations, Brad Stevens, talking to a player.
I turn my head for a minute and look back, and Stevens is gone, poof, gone, an apparition to be seen again for a while.
Stevens prefers it that way, working behind the scenes, trying to improve the roster and not answering questions from the prying media, especially questions about coaching that would somehow, however unintentionally, undermine first-time head coach Ime Idoka.
ADVERTISEMENT
Operating behind the scenes is Stevens’ preferred method.
But it’s clear that in his first season as the Celtics’ president of basketball operations, he enhanced the roster and gave Udoka the autonomy to coach his way.
On a long flight Tuesday from San Francisco to Boston for Thursday’s Game 6, I listened again to the Celtics’ press conference from the end of last season announcing Danny Ainge’s departure from the franchise and Stevens’ promotion from coach to main office.
I wanted to hear what was said then that offered some insight into what happened with the Celtics this season.
From Celtics owner and managing partner Wyc Grousbeck: “Brad and I talked and made a commitment to each other, we’re going to win banner 18 or die trying. … (We) believe that Brad is the person who will guide us forward on the basketball side as we move towards that lofty goal.”
From Ainge: “I think (Brad) was born for this. Kid from Indiana, addicted to basketball, smart, lives the game, is very resourceful and has a great staff. With Brad’s leadership and his organization and his work ethic and intelligence, this is a great day for the Celtics. This is actually even a big step forward.”
OPINION:The veteran Warriors experience a huge advantage in the NBA Finals over the young Celtics
GAME 5:Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins enters the NBA Finals MVP discussion with another big outing
SPORTS, DELIVERED:Get the latest news straight to your inbox!
Stevens said some things that at the time passed as news conference minutiae. A year later, there is an insight into the words Stevens said.
“I know there is a lot of hard work.”
“I have been doing this for eight years. I’ve been in that locker room with some of those guys for a long time. They will be able to play for a manager with new perspectives and I think that’s a good thing.”
“I am not the story.”
Stevens acknowledged the roster shortcomings of a team that went 36-36 and lost in the first round last season. Through a variety of means, Stevens had to ensure that he gave Udoka a better roster than he had.
The second comment is interesting. Without saying it outright, Stevens may have recognized that someone else’s voice and methods might work better.
Ultimately, Stevens doesn’t want to draw attention to himself. Aside from obligations to the Celtics’ television and radio networks, he doesn’t do many interviews.
Udoka acknowledged at the start of the Finals that it’s a unique situation where the previous guy who had the coaching job is now his boss.
“With him, it’s been great,” Udoka said. “Different situation that a lot of people may think is unattractive, but I think it’s just a benefit to have a guy who has trained for seven or eight years in the building with the same guys across the hall. Talk about each situation he has been through and be supportive up to that point. But also step back and let me do my thing. I think it’s just been an added benefit, and in a unique situation, it sure helped this year.”
After the interview process, Stevens and Grousbeck concluded that Udoka was the right coach.
“Obviously you talk about the expectations and the standard of the organization, but really the philosophy of basketball and where we wanted to go as an organization and the way I thought about the game at both ends, the way I related to people was a big part of that. and how we could push the group forward,” said Udoka.
“Very natural in the interview process, the original Zooms and in person. With Brad, we hit it off from the beginning and we think the same way. We obviously felt comfortable and there were some benefits of working with someone who feels the same way.”
While Stevens improved the roster and Udoka tapped into more, don’t forget that Stevens and his previous staff are partially responsible for the development of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Grant Williams, Robert Williams, and Payton Pritchard. And Ainge is responsible for recruiting those players.
Stevens jumped right into the job with the coaching search, and in the offseason, Stevens traded for Al Horford. At the trade deadline, he acquired Derrick White from San Antonio. Horford and White have been key in Boston’s run to the Finals.
“I think he’s done a phenomenal job as a general manager,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “The moves he made this year, adding Horford and Derrick White, were brilliant.”
Kerr and Stevens forged a friendship before Kerr jumped into coaching and when Stevens coached at Butler.
“I actually know Brad pretty well,” Kerr said. “We hooked up when I was on the broadcast, and he was on Butler. We lunch. He wanted to rack my brain about the NBA. She wanted to pick his brain over training. I was thinking of getting into the coach. He had done a couple of Butler games for CBS.
“And so we’ve built a relationship over the years. Just great respect for him.”
Kerr went from the front office to training, the opposite of what Stevens did.
“I think he’s someone who has figured out what he wants at this stage in his life,” Kerr said. “That is what we all have to solve in this business. I was able to put off training until my kids finished high school, and that’s how I wanted it. And I think he was more or less the opposite. While he was training, his children were very young. I know he has a lot more time with them now, which is important to him.
“You just have to figure out your own existence and what you want within that, and I think he’s done a good job of that.”
There will always be talk that Stevens will return to training if he wants to. He is also very good at it. But also – not saying this a quote for life – the great organizations of the NBA maintain continuity and stability. Ainge was there for 18 years. Stevens could have this job for a long time.
It is also unpredictable. His trade from Butler to the Celtics was surprising, as was his change of coach to president of basketball operations. Stevens evolves and makes decisions accordingly.
Perhaps Stevens’ best decision as a coach was to stop coaching. At least for the moment.
