Brad Stevens said Tuesday that he’s happy with the Boston Celtics‘ play this season as well as his current role with the team.
The Celtics president of basketball operations, often linked to coaching and executive jobs outside of Boston — including North Carolina before it opted to sign Michael Malone — said he’s content in his current position.
“I mean, the whole idea of the coaching carousel being news is a little bit tiresome, but I get why in this day and age,” Stevens told reporters in Boston ahead of the Celtics’ win against the Charlotte Hornets.
“I like being here. They’ve been great to me, and I haven’t been seeking anything else.
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“I’m not motivated to do anything but what I’m doing is the bottom line, and I’m really happy with the people we’re around and everything else,” he said. “That’s been the best part about being here, and really, as you get to this age and stage, I think that’s the motivator for me. I don’t really have any other motivation than being around people that I want to be around.”
Stevens coached the Celtics for eight seasons, then left that position to take over as the team’s president of basketball operations in 2021.
This season’s team has been arguably the surprise of the league, overcoming the initial absence of Jayson Tatum as he recovered from a ruptured Achilles tendon as well as the offseason departures of Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford.
The Celtics are one win away from clinching the No. 2 seed in the East and are a legitimate NBA title contender.
That doesn’t mean Stevens is ready to make any predictions. Far from it. He’s content following the same one-day-at-a-time mantra that has driven him his entire basketball life, earlier from the coaching sidelines and now in the front office.
“I feel the exact same as I did at the beginning, I really feel that way normally,” Stevens said. “When we get into the playoffs, it’ll be the same thing. It’s one game at a time. I don’t think in terms of the big picture as far as this individual team. I just think, I know that we can play.”
He’s also watched the remaining players that constitute his once-underestimated roster find individual new gears that have contributed to their collective success.
With Tatum out to start the season, Jaylen Brown seized on the opportunity to be the No. 1 option and leader, taking his game to new levels on the offensive and defensive end. It has added up to him achieving career-high averages in points (28.7), rebounds (7.0) and assists (5.2).
It has also gained him entry into a crowded MVP conversation. More than that, since Tatum’s return March 6, Brown’s play has taken some of the pressure off Tatum as he has worked his way back into form. The same is true for defensive stalwart Derrick White.
The result has been a successful return for Tatum, whose comfort and confidence have grown exponentially over the past month. He has scored 20 or more points in six straight games, including Tuesday night’s contest.
“I’ve seen us rise and meet challenges, and I know this team is looking forward to the next one,” Stevens said. “As you get into this time of the year and get into the playoffs, everything’s hard and the other teams are really good. See where it all stacks up, but I’m going to continue to not put a ceiling on us.”
As is his style, Stevens has stayed mostly in the background this season, with Tuesday marking his first comments with reporters since Tatum’s return. He said the Celtics never truly entertained the thought of Tatum returning this season until around the trade deadline.
“He was in a pretty good spot physically and from the standpoint of his strength,” Stevens said. “And then it’s just a matter of reconditioning and getting your confidence back in a lot of ways and playing and getting back on the court.”
What has also been clear to Stevens is that he has a coach in Joe Mazzulla, who along with his staff, is putting this team in the best position to achieve. Brown has been the biggest catalyst to how this team has overachieved, but the improvement of players such as Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Neemias Queta, Jordan Walsh and rotation addition Baylor Scheierman has also helped.
Queta in particular went from a fourth-string center at one point earlier in his career to the starter this season for the Celtics, one of the most improved players in the league and among its top-performing big men.
It garnered Mazzulla high consideration for Coach of the Year honors, praise that he repeatedly eschewed while deferring his players and assistants.
Stevens, who surprisingly elevated him to the job after Ime Udoka was suspended, said Mazzulla is worthy of all the compliments he has gotten.
“They all, players, coaches, and everybody else that are up for all these awards, whether they want them or not, they certainly all deserve it,” Stevens said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
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