Celtics president of basketball ops Brad Stevens dispels college coaching rumors
“I thoroughly appreciate being a Celtic and love the people I get to work with every day.”
Rumors have swirled on social media that Brad Stevens could replace Mike Woodson as Indiana University’s head basketball coach.
Stevens, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations, put those conversations to rest on Friday.
He told Jeff Goodman of The Field of 68 that he’s content with his role in Boston.
“I thoroughly appreciate being a Celtic and love the people I get to work with every day,” Stevens said.
Stevens is an Indiana native, hence the IU rumors. He’s also no stranger to college hoops. The 48-year-old Stevens was Butler University’s head coach from 2007-2013 and was an assistant coach there for six years prior.
As Butler’s head coach, he led the program to back-to-back national championship games and three Horizon League tournament titles. Stevens was also the League’s Coach of the Year for 2009 and 2010, plus the Clair Bee Coach of the Year in 2011.
In his first year at Butler, he became the third-youngest coach head coach in Division I history to lead a program to 30 wins. That year was also the first time the school had achieved the 30-win mark.
Stevens’s success at the collegiate level aided his transition to the NBA in 2013 when he was named Boston’s head coach following Doc Rivers’s trade to the Los Angeles Clippers.
As Celtics head coach from 2013-2021, Stevens amassed a 354-282 record and led Boston to the playoffs every season from 2014-2021. His teams reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017, 2018, and 2020.
In June 2021, Stevens was named the Celtics’ president of basketball operations and has held that title ever since.
As the team’s de facto general manager, Boston has played in the NBA Finals twice, winning the title in 2024. Stevens has invested heavily in the roster by acquiring star players such as Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, as well as extending stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to lucrative deals.
By bringing back nearly the entire 2023-24 Finals-winning roster this season, he seems like he has his sights set on hoisting another Larry O’Brien trophy this year.
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