Maturing Stevens still home in Indy
INDIANAPOLIS — Brad Stevens coached his 377th NBA game last night. That’s 162 more than the 215 he coached at Butler.
“Really?” said the Celtics’ leader when presented with the analytics. “Wow.”
Wry guy that he is, Stevens then added, “And over all that time here, we’ve probably had as many practices as we had in one year at Butler.”
He spent six seasons with the Bulldogs and is now in his fifth with the Celts. The most games he ever coached in college was 38, and those were in the two years Butler made it all the way to the NCAA title game. This season, he will coach his 38th on Dec. 27. There will, of course, be 44 more after that — in just the regular season. Last spring he had 18 more in the playoffs.
“It’s amazing how quickly the games accumulate,” Stevens said. “And after that first year, I didn’t know if I’d ever make it through 300 games, so it’s pretty good to see the progress that’s been made.
“But you get so caught up in the moment that you don’t think about those things that much.”
In that first NBA season, Stevens had to work just 82 games, as the rebuilding Celts were no threat to the postseason. The 25 wins were two fewer than he took down in his last season at Butler, but he needed just 36 games to get those.
It’s a measure of time’s passage and Stevens’ success with the Celtics that this story contains more references to Butler than most any piece about the coach in the last calendar year.
When he got to the C’s, it was all about a college coach trying to make it in the NBA, where so many others had failed to negotiate the step up in level. He’s now accepted as one of the best at his job in the NBA, and now, a quarter of the way through this season, he’s the morning line favorite for Coach of the Year.
But Stevens doesn’t recall any particular moment when he began to be viewed in a different light.
“I don’t think of myself as a college guy or an NBA guy,” he said. “I just think of myself as a guy that’s pretty lucky to do what he does.”
He will always, though, be an Indiana guy, and while he was focused on trying to get his C’s a win over the Pacers, the familiarity with the surroundings once the Boston charter landed still made for a warm return.
“It’s always special to go home,” Stevens said, “but I’ve learned that I don’t set up anything anymore. We’re in Indy for 20 hours.
“Maybe the first couple of times, I probably overcommitted to little things, but I’ve kept it pretty simple the last few times.”
He didn’t meet up with people before the game, and added that he “might see a few in passing on the way out of gym.”
“These are business trips for us,” said Stevens, “and when I go back in August, that’s when I spend time catching up with everybody.”
His wife Tracy and their two children flew in Friday to make it a long weekend, but, said the coach, “For me, it’s work.”
A lot of work. A lot of games.
“It’s amazing how long these seasons are, but how quickly they feel like they go,” Stevens said.