Brad Stevens has spoken quite highly of the Celtics’ first-round playoff opponent, fawning over Brooklyn’s Big Three of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving. “It’s hard to see those guys losing,” said Stevens in praise of Brooklyn, who rolled to a 48-24 regular-season record. “Those guys are the best of the best.” Stevens went on to call the Nets “probably the most talented team that’s been put together since I’ve been in the NBA.”
While Stevens isn’t wrong in his evaluation of the second-seeded Nets, an offensive juggernaut still just scratching the surface of its limitless potential (Durant, Harden and Irving played together a grand total of eight times during the regular season), it’s unusual, bordering on unheard-of for a coach to butter up an opponent this publicly. Kendrick Perkins, who, in addition to his analyst work for ESPN, also serves as part of the Celtics’ pre and post-game coverage on NBC Sports Boston, was floored by Stevens’ remarks, irate that the eighth-year coach would seemingly count out his own team before the series has even begun.
“If you love Brooklyn that much, why don’t you go coach them?” asked a frustrated Perkins during his appearance Thursday on First Take. “I played for the Boston Celtics for eight-and-a-half years. It’s the city of champions. They have something that’s called Celtic pride. That wasn’t Celtic pride. I wouldn’t want to play with Brad Stevens. I can’t go to war with a coach who is sitting there praising and glorifying an opponent I possibly could upset.”
The Celtics enter their first-round series, which begins Saturday night in Brooklyn, as massive underdogs against the Nets, who won all three meetings during the regular season. Even after routing Washington in Tuesday’s play-in game, the reeling C’s have lost five of their last seven while struggling to fill the void left by All-Star Jaylen Brown, who many would argue is Boston’s best all-around player. Still, that’s no reason to roll over and play dead.
“We’re trying to win championships. Get some fire up under you. Right now, you should be telling the team, ‘Let’s go shock the world.’ You’ve got Jayson Tatum, a man who just dropped 50 points the other night in a crucial moment. You’ve still got Kemba Walker,” said Perkins, feeling Stevens’ comments sent the wrong message. “It was just disturbing. I tried to get down with Brad because people think he’s good with X’s and O’s. But this put me over the top.”
Perkins, a former NBA center for Boston, Oklahoma City, Cleveland and New Orleans, has been critical of the Celtics’ head coach before, earlier this year suggesting Stevens had lost control of the locker room. Despite the Celtics underachieving this season (36-36 record), Stevens’ job is not in jeopardy, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
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