Too often than not, head coaches are often forgotten about when it comes to a team’s success. I have more appreciation for Erik Spoelstra and his coaching after Lebron left and he was still successful. In his very short head coaching in the NBA career, Brad Stevens is already proving that he is one of the best coaches ever. With players, you can often tell early in players’ careers who will be stars and who won’t. Like with Luka Doncic, you’d knew he would be a star in his rookie season. Or Trae Young, who is almost as good as Luka Doncic, we also knew he’d be a star too. It’s the same with coaches. Brad Stevens will go down as one of the best when it is all said and done.
Brad Stevens By The Years
Brad Stevens has been the Boson Celtics Head Coach since 2013. In the 2013-2014 season, he had his worst season with the Celtics. That is to be expected given it was his NBA coaching debut. Stevens went 25-57 (.305) in his first year, which isn’t the worst for a rookie head coach. Fairly too early to tell if he would pan out or not.
The next year, he made a considerable jump in wins, increasing from last year’s win total by 15. For those that aren’t good at math, he went from 25-57 to 40-42 (.488) and made the playoffs. Stevens got swept in the playoffs though, but making the playoffs in only your second year of coaching in the NBA is impressive enough.
The Boston Celtics have never not made the playoffs since then. Stevens went 48-34 (.585) the next year but also got bounced again in the first round. The next year, which we are in the 2016-2017 season for those that couldn’t keep track, he made the playoffs with a 53-29 (.646) record. Brad Stevens also finally got out of the first round and made it to the Eastern Conference finals. The Celtics lost 4-1 in that round, however.
In 2018, he had his best coaching year to date. He went 55-27 (.671) while ALMOST making the NBA finals this year. The Celtics lost in the Eastern Conference Finals again in a 7 game series against Lebron. Brad Stevens had declined slightly in the 2018-2019 season only getting 49 wins, and losing in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.
Celtics This Year
This year, the Celtics look to put a scare into the Eastern Conference as they are one of the best teams in that conference. Their core of Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Gordon Hayward is one of the best cores in the NBA right now. With this core, there really isn’t a need for a big man. Brad Stevens is a great coach that has beautifully worked around that “flaw” on the Boston Celtics. This core and Brad Stevens as the coach, will he finally get the ring that will solidify his position as one of the best coaches in the NBA? Only time will tell. However, it seems that Brad Stevens getting a ring is inevitable. The question is when Brad Stevens will get his ring, not if.
