Currently, there are 12 players under contract on NBA rosters around the country who are older than the association’s newest head coach, Brad Stevens.
However appropriate it may be that the league’s greenest coach is indeed coach of the shamrocked Boston Celtics, it is not the only thing that makes sense about the gutsy hire.
General Manager Danny Ainge, a former Celtic, got the timing perfect with the pickup of Stevens. With the departure of Garnett and Paul Pierce, along with Ray Allen taking his talents to South Beach in 2012, the Celtics’ roster will shift its focus entirely to eight-year point guard Rajon Rondo. The relative influx of youth will be right up Stevens’ alley as the youngest coach in the NBA.
One benefit Stevens has from being a raw coach with a young roster is that he can mold his tender stars into the players he wants them to be, which is essential if his system is to succeed in the NBA.
Stevens’ way of coaching basketball centers on half-court basketball, lateral ball movement and solid defense – textbook “team basketball”, if the notion still exists. He could not have implemented that coaching style with the Celtics’ previous rosters, championship roster though it was. Pierce, who had been with the franchise longer than Stevens had been in coaching, would not have cooperated. Though the Celtics’ personnel may have mellowed out as of late, Stevens still has to contend with authentic bad boy Rajon Rondo. In the weeks since former coach Doc Rivers left to tutor Chris Paul and the Los Angeles Clippers, rumors have swirled that Rondo drove his former mentor out of town with an expletive fired at Doc in a team meeting. Other players intervened to keep the altercation from getting physical.
Yes, Rondo has been notorious for his numerous suspensions and antics on the court. But many of those instances stemmed from Rondo’s idea that he had to fight almost every time an opposing player fouled a teammate. That teammate was usually Garnett. Garnett is gone. If you’ve noticed a trend here, it’s that Garnett leaving helped pave the way for Stevens and his mild-mannered demeanor, which also may quell Rondo’s fiery personality.
One factor that isn’t on Stevens’ side is history. Of the last 13 coaches hired directly from college to the NBA, only two achieved winning records with the team that hired them. Many lasted fewer than three seasons in the professional ranks before returning to college. Add on the fact that the average tenure of an NBA coach is 2.3 years, and it would suggest that Ainge won’t give Stevens much time to prove himself. These facts, coupled with his youth, put a pretty sizable chip on Stevens’ shoulder.
That’s nothing new for Stevens, however. For the former Applebee’s server and pharmaceutical salesman, who later broke the college record for wins in his first three seasons, it might be just right.
