Brad Stevens reveals lesson from Danny Ainge that stuck with him more than ‘anything else’
"He probably looked at some of the stuff I was doing as, ‘No, that probably won’t work.’ But he always allowed me to do my job, and he always was really supportive."
Brad Stevens came to the Celtics as a coach before transitioning into his current role as an executive.
He worked with Danny Ainge for eight seasons. When Ainge left the Celtics in 2021, Stevens replaced him as President of Basketball Operations.
Though they have different styles, Stevens said he learned a lot from Ainge over the years during a recent interview with Steve Bulpett of Heavy Sports.
“I took a lot from Danny,” Stevens told Bulpett. “Danny’s an amazing person, and the thing that I probably took more from him than anything else is that he didn’t always agree with everything I did — in fact, he probably looked at some of the stuff I was doing as, ‘No, that probably won’t work.’ But he always allowed me to do my job, and he always was really supportive.”
In addition to his playing career, Ainge was head coach of the Phoenix Suns for three seasons before joining the Celtics as an executive. Stevens said having someone like Ainge in an executive role who also knows what it’s like being a coach was helpful to him. Now, Stevens shares his insight with current Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla.
“I always felt like, at the end of the day, [Ainge] knew how hard coaching was. I certainly know how hard coaching is,” Stevens said. “I know how Joe (Mazzulla) feels as he’s going through the season.
“I know the ups and downs. I know what his concerns are,” Stevens added. “I know what he gets excited about. I know what’s going on with the team and having a pulse on how hard that is on the coach. Danny always did that for me, and I think he really did it for a lot of people in the building. It’s a hard act to follow when you have to follow Danny.”
The Celtics haven’t won a title since the 2008 team that Ainge constructed bested Kobe Bryant and the Lakers in the Finals.
This season, the Celtics are coming out of the All-Star break with the NBA’s best record and a legitimate shot at another deep playoff run.
The Celtics are favored to win it all, in part because of the moves Stevens made to acquire Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday via trade.
“I think we’re always evaluating how we can get better, because I think if you’re not trying to get better, you’re probably going to get caught,” Stevens said of the trades. “And, you know, we weren’t where we wanted to be anyways as far as a Finals or championship team. So getting caught is just something that I just think you always have to be alert to.”
“Being good is really fragile,” Stevens added. “Being good is really hard. And nothing is guaranteed, so you just, again, have to be on the lookout for ways to improve. Most of the time, that’s just within the walls — tweak the offense, tweak the defense, whatever the case may be. But sometimes opportunities present themselves, and you just have to be ready.”
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