The 41-year-old coach of the undermanned Boston Celtics has emerged as one of the sport’s sharpest minds, but reaching the NBA finals without his two best players would be his best trick yet
The first time I met Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens was outside Butler University’s famed Hinkle Fieldhouse. It was winter 2012, less than a year after Stevens, then the coach at the tiny Indianapolis school, had led Bulldogs to their second consecutive NCAA championship game. I was with a friend who knew Stevens a little and wanted to say hello. I was surprised Stevens had agreed to meet us. Most college coaches don’t have time for such things, especially in the middle of the season with practice barely more than an hour away.
But as we approached the gym door, I could see a familiar face peering through the glass. Brad Stevens? The doors were locked and he didn’t want to make us wait in the cold, he explained, as he let us inside. He took us to his office, a drab room by the opulent standards of big-time college basketball. The ceiling leaked. He sat on a couch, not a particularly plush one, and acted as if he was in heaven.
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