Brad Stevens is aware of how difficult this particular road to glory will be.
The Boston Celtics head coach dismissed the idea of the 2020 NBA Finals winner having an asterisk next to its name Wednesday in comments he made to The Associated Press. Stevens believes the unprecedented circumstances of the 2019-20 NBA season, particularly the disruption the coronavirus pandemic has caused, has made the Finals-winning task perhaps as hard as ever.
“I saw (Houston Rockets guard) Austin Rivers said today, you know that the idea of an asterisk next to this championship, I think he said it exactly right,” Stevens said. “This is going to be a super unique situation and whoever wins it is going to really earn it.”
The Celtics are among the 22 NBA teams that will resume the season later this month in Orlando. An eight-game seeding round will precede a full four-round, best-of-seven NBA Playoffs, from which the 2020 champion will emerge.
The fact that teams must return from a three-plus-month hiatus and remain away from their families and familiar surroundings for another few months, lends credence to what Stevens and others have to say about any “asterisk.”
