NBA: Brad Stevens: Players deserve the praise, not me

Boston Celtics Head Coach Brad Stevens finds all the praise for his person exaggerated and wishes that the players would receive the full recognition.

“It’s silly,” Stevens told ESPN. “The praises are unpleasant for me, for the boys deserve all of it. We all have a job to do as well as we can.”

To the jokingly meant statement that the media representatives could pounce on him if the coach made a mistake, he only replied: “Go ahead. That would be great.” (Game 2 between the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers tonight at 2:30 live on DAZN.)

Celtics Big Man Aron Baynes, who won a championship under Greg Popovich in San Antonio, also found praising words for his coach. “You’re both great coaches. There are definitely similarities between them,” said the Australian. “But of course, everyone has their own methods. I’m just glad I was able to learn from both of them and still learn a lot from Brad (Stevens).”

Stevens, however, said that GM Danny Ainge also deserves a lot of credit for putting together the squad: “It’s a collaboration between all involved, but Danny (Ainge) is the one who selects the players and he has done this absolutely fantastically.”

Despite constant changes in the roster, the Celtics have always increased their number of seasonal victories in each of the five seasons under Stevens. With another victory in the playoffs, he would celebrate a new career high in post-season wins.