It’s March, which means the “Brad Stevens returning to college” rumors have begun again.
This time, Stevens was linked to the North Carolina head coaching vacancy before reportedly removing himself from consideration. Similar rumors have popped up almost annually. Stevens has shot down the idea several times, dating back to 2014, when he was in his second season as the Boston Celtics head coach.
Beyond all the denials he has given in the past, we know Stevens hasn’t ever seriously wanted to coach in college again because, if he did, he could have landed virtually any job opening since he left Butler in 2013. He was already the hottest commodity in college basketball at that time after taking a mid-major school to back-to-back national championship games. Since then, he has rebuilt the Celtics as a coach, become a championship executive and proven himself repeatedly as one of the brightest minds in the sport. He could snap his finger and have just about any job in basketball that he wants.
But Stevens has never given any indication he wants to leave Boston, where he holds possibly the most prestigious job in the NBA. Beyond that, why would he leave now? Stevens went through the hard part of roster building this summer, when he needed to say goodbye to several beloved veterans for financial reasons. He removed the Celtics from second apron hell, maneuvered them out of the luxury tax, and, even without Jayson Tatum for most of the season, built another Eastern Conference favorite. Now, Tatum is back on the court, Stevens has the Celtics financially flexible and the Celtics appear set to contend for years to come. Their core players are all under contract for multiple years. Among them, only Derrick White is in his 30s.
Wouldn’t you want to stay and enjoy the spoils of such a deft transition from one era to the next?
Stevens should be a favorite for NBA Executive of the Year, which he previously won in 2024. His roster is filled with proof of his basketball wisdom. Starting center Neemias Queta was waived by the Sacramento Kings before the Celtics acquired him on a two-way contract. (He has since earned a standard deal.) Luka Garza barely played in Minnesota but has emerged as a solid backup center in Boston. Stevens has built a quality wing rotation with recent draft picks Jordan Walsh, Baylor Scheierman and Hugo González all proving themselves worthy of minutes. The undrafted Ron Harper Jr., who is on a two-way contract, has also earned head coach Joe Mazzulla’s trust.
Speaking of Mazzulla, Stevens made one heck of a call to place the franchise in the young coach’s hands after Ime Udoka put the Celtics in a bad position in 2022. It didn’t take long for Mazzulla to separate himself as one of the NBA’s premier coaches.
Stevens has rarely missed since taking over as the Celtics’ president of basketball operations in 2021. Considering the difficulty of the remodeling he needed to pull off this summer, this might be his best season yet in that role. After losing Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porziņģis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet over the offseason, Stevens recognized the importance of bringing in great people and competitors to replace them.
“That became the priority,” Stevens told The Athletic in October. “It was not only that, ‘Hey, we’ve gotta reset and retool,’ but the people we bring into this place — whether through the draft or a trade or a signing — yes, we’re looking for maybe some young, proven, cost-effective people, but at the same time, they have to be high character and they have to be high competitive character. Because if they’re not, we’re just losing too much in that area to sustain it.”
The new-look Celtics are feisty like their coach, Mazzulla. Tough and selfless, they are also built in the likeness of Stevens, who values basketball ideals as much as anyone.
With all he has accomplished in various roles, any NBA franchise or college program would be lucky to have Stevens. If he ever does get the itch to coach again, college teams wouldn’t be the only ones lining up to try hiring him. Still, until he shows he has any interest in leaving his current gig, which he does as well as anyone, it’s best just to laugh off the rumors every spring when they inevitably pop up again.