Brad Stevens has excelled since taking over the role as the President of Basketball Operations of the Celtics, finishing top-six in Executive of The Year voting in each of his two seasons in the role.
The 47-year-old has not been afraid to make changes. Just three players remain from the roster Stevens inherited when he took over in June of 2021– Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Payton Pritchard. – Al Horford and Luke Kornet are honorable mentions to the list, though both had stints with other teams before Stevens brought them back to Boston.
Stevens has steered the Celtics to remarkable success, propelling them to the Conference Finals twice and a trip to the NBA Finals.
Although Stevens has proven he is one of the best executives in the NBA, the path that led him to this role was anything but conventional.
Following the 2020-21 season, Danny Ainge announced he would be retiring from his role as President of Basketball Operations. Ainge guided the Celtics for 18 years, which included 15 playoff appearances, seven Eastern Conference Finals appearances, two trips to the NBA Finals, and a championship in 2008.
Furthermore, Ainge was the first general manager hired by Wyc Grousbeck and Steve Paglicua.
"I was really bummed about it,” Grousbeck told The Greg Hill Show when reflecting on Ainge’s departure. “I wasn't expecting him to come in and say that he needed to step down. That was really the way it was. Others thought I had something to do with it, but really, I just received the news he was leaving, and it was not welcomed news by me.
As the team sought a new general manager, Grousbeck met with Stevens to discuss the position. In that conversation, an idea sparked in his mind.
“Thinking through what to do next, I was talking to Brad about how we would hire a General Manager who would be sort of in between the two of us, and the three of us would really need to be partners and look at things together, which is the way it works over with the Celtics, with guys making recommendations and then I’m ultimately responsible for making the final approval decision, but the ideas probably come from somewhere else,” Grousbeck said.
“We needed someone between me and Brad,” Grousbeck added. “Brad was the coach. And then, I looked at him out of nowhere and said, ‘Brad, you’ve got a great basketball mind, you’ve been in the drafts the last seven years or so with Danny. You’ve built teams at Butler, you know personnel. You know everybody in the league. Do you want to think about being the GM? Why don’t you think about it.’”
Stevens, who was originally hired by Ainge, had accomplished great success as a head coach. After becoming the only coach in school history to lead the Butler Bulldogs to the NCAA Division I national championship game, which he did twice, Stevens was hired by the Celtics, where he led his teams to a 354-282 record, including seven consecutive playoffs and three Eastern Conference Finals appearances.
However, upon a night of reflection, Stevens decided he was ready to make the leap to the front office.
“He thought of it overnight and came back and said, 'I'm in,’” Grousbeck recalled.
“It was really an idea I had based on Brad’s characteristics and qualities and my comfort working with him as a partner. I didn’t know he would turn out to be a guy that took us to the Finals right away as a GM. He made some great moves, and they were built on moves that Danny had made in the past. I’m thrilled that Brad is president of basketball, and I really love the job he’s done.”
As Boston currently sits right in the middle of their championship window – Stevens and Grousbeck have done everything they can to put this team in a position to raise Banner 18.
The pairing isn’t afraid to spend and make whatever moves necessary to win a championship – and for that, Celtics fans should be extremely grateful.
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