Brad Stevens already said once this week that he was not considering leaving the Celtics for the head coaching job at Indiana University, but that wasn't enough to stop the rumors and reports from piling up.
Friday brought a new wave, with one rumor having him not only seriously considering the job, but potentially being announced as Indiana's new coach before the end of the day.
Naturally, the first question to Stevens -- who is from Indiana and grew up a Hoosiers fan -- during his pregame press conference Friday afternoon was whether he is considering the Indiana job, and he reiterated that he is not.
"I said it the other day -- I'm not," Stevens said. "I tried to say it as clearly as I could and also make sure people understand that that place, to me, is special. Because I don't want to make it sound like it's not. But like I said the other day, I'm so grateful to this organization and to the people here for all that they've done for us. I've got unbelievable leadership in Danny [Ainge] and Wyc [Grousbeck] and Pags [Steve Pagliuca].
"...I love coming to work every day. I love this area. People have been great to us. My family is so happy. And at the same time, home is home, and that's why I wanted to make sure everybody understood that that means a lot. But no, just like I said on Tuesday, I'm not. So, I don't know if I'll have to answer that again on Monday. I hope that people understand that, and people can hopefully appreciate that it still means a lot to me.
"I hope they hire whoever they hire and I hope they're there for 20 years and kids feel like I did. But I'm not a kid anymore. I'm a 44-year-old Masshole. I swerve around others when I'm driving, I eat Dunkin' Donuts, and I root for the Patriots."