Damon Stoudamire has been around plenty of star players throughout his 13-year NBA playing career and now-14-year coaching career, but the Celtics assistant coach sees something unique in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Stoudamire, who has filled in as the Celtics’ de facto head coach the last two games while Joe Mazzulla tends to an eye injury, was asked after Thursday’s win over the Clippers if anything about Tatum and Brown has surprised him since he joined Boston’s staff last year.
“How humble they were. Both of them,” Stoudamire said. “I’ve been around this league a long time. I’ve never seen a star like JT. He’s kind of a throwback. He practices. He plays. JB’s the same way. For me, being in college and recruiting a lot of these guys -- I know a lot of these guys from when I was recruiting at Memphis and Arizona. I’m telling you, I tell our staff this all the time, I say, ‘You should appreciate this, because it’s not like that everywhere.’ And people will tell you that. I appreciate them because they make it easier for you to coach them. They allow you to coach them, and they allow you to help them get better.”
Tatum and Brown led the way once again Thursday night, with each dropping 29 points in the 116-110 victory.
The duo has certainly come a long way since the days of constant questions about whether or not they could succeed together. And to Stoudamire’s point about accepting coaching, they’ve had to be amenable to some different voices in recent years -- first Brad Stevens, then Ime Udoka for a year, and now Mazzulla and, at least for a couple games, Stoudamire.