Brad Stevens of Zionsville, Indiana will have a different role with the Boston Celtics in 2021-22. Following the Celtics elimination from the NBA Playoffs on Tuesday, Boston announced that Stevens would no longer be their head coach, and take over the role as president of basketball operations. The Celtics’ previous president of basketball operations was their long-time player Danny Ainge, who announced his retirement from the role at age 62 on Wednesday.
A major reason why Ainge retired was due to his health. According to Sopan Deb of the New York Times, Ainge had a heart attack during the 2019 NBA Playoffs. That season the Celtics advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals by beating the Brooklyn Nets in five games in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. They then lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the second round.
Ainge was initially hired as the Celtics Executive Director of Basketball Operations in 2003. In his time in Boston, Ainge won the 2008 NBA Executive of the Year Award. A major reason for his recognition was because he acquired Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Ray Allen from the Seattle Supersonics in blockbuster trades. Garnett and Allen teamed up with Celtics star Paul Pierce to create “the big three.” Boston would go on to win the 2008 NBA Finals, as the Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers in six games. Ironically, it was Brooklyn’s big three that would ultimately force Ainge and the Celtics to make a change.
Stevens has coaching experience at the NCAA level and NBA level. He was in charge of Butler from 2007 to 2013 before joining the Celtics in 2013. As a head coach in Boston, Stevens had a record of 354 wins and 282 losses.
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