Brad Stevens is pretty busy coaching the Boston Celtics, but it appears he’s keeping up with his current events, too.
Stevens’ club was in our nation’s capital Tuesday ahead of their game against the Washington Wizards, and during his morning media session, the Celtics coach made a reference to one of the teams’ previous meeting, a 118-93 Wizards win back in November.
“We were down by 40 in the first quarter last time,” Stevens told reporters, via MassLive.com.
That doesn’t seem right, and it’s not: Boston *only* trailed by 26 after the first quarter in that game. But it turns out the exaggeration was just Stevens’ setup for a clever quip.
“That’s an alternative fact, by the way,” Stevens added. “Just a little bit off. I figure that’s kind of how we roll around here.”
We see what you did there, Brad.
In case you don’t, “alternative facts” have become the punch line of many jokes after Kellyanne Conway, counselor to President Donald Trump, Kellyanne Conway, used the term while trying to defend White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s false statements about the size of the crowd at Trump’s presidential inauguration. The phrase already has achieved meme status, and Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr even used it to make a similar joke over the weekend.
Stevens rarely enters the political arena, but he did admit to not voting for Trump after the election, so his good-natured jab makes sense.
Politics aside, a fact that can’t be disputed is that the Celtics and Wizards clearly don’t like each other, so don’t be surprised if there are some fireworks on the Verizon Center floor Tuesday night.
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
