The Herald’s Steve Bulpett caught our attention today with his story about Brad Stevens reaffirming his desire to stay in Boston.
Apparently, there are whispers about Stevens long-term commitment to the Celtics. Whispers?
But just five games from the finish line of his first season with the Celtics, he’s appreciating the fact the collegiate comments are more subtle than in his face. Still, he took the opportunity to answer the whispers and restate his commitment to the Celtics reconstruction project.
“I appreciate the fact that people would say that as a positive remark to what we did at Butler, but at the same time I haven’t paid one bit of attention to it,” Stevens said. “You know, my wife has said that she’s really enjoyed this late March and early April from the standpoint that she said, ‘I don’t even know what’s going on with the coaching carousel right now.’ Because sometimes the rumors were so rampant that you had to squash rumors that weren’t even true.
“When we signed on for this, this was our saying: ‘We’re going to be here. We’re going to get after this. We’re going to try to do this our very best.’ Hopefully that’s going to be good enough.
“One of the things that we really said right from the get-go upon deciding to take this job and leave Butler is that we want to give this a full swing,” he said. “And I’m going to do everything I can to make this the best it can be.”
I consider myself plugged-in to all the news and rumors surrounding the Celtics and this is the first time I’ve heard anything about Stevens being an NBA short-timer.
Bulpett also shared this quote from around the time Stevens was hired:
Sniffed one NBA lifer, “He’ll stay with Boston until the Duke job opens up.”
I’m not doubting Bulpett, I just don’t think this angle has been widely reported (if at all).
Stevens seems to be acclimating to the NBA game just fine. He has the admiration of the media and his peers. Minus the obscenely overblown Rondo birthday controversy, there have been no public spats with players despite an awful won-loss record.
If Danny Ainge does his job properly over the next two years, I see no reason why Brad Stevens won’t excel in Boston.
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