The 2020-21 season was a grind for the Boston Celtics, to say the least.
The Celtics, like every other team in the league, were challenged to deal with a laundry list of modifications and restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Boston also was forced to battle with injuries to virtually every player on its roster. The shorthanded C's limped into the playoffs and ultimately were bounced by the Brooklyn Nets in five games.
Knowing all of the hardships his team encountered dating back to late December, Brad Stevens was proud of the fight he saw from the Celtics until the very end.
"I just told the team that in a lot of ways, it was as hard of a year as many of us have been through and they did nothing but stick together and improve," Stevens told reporters after Tuesday's season-ending loss, per Celtics.com. "We didn't play perfect basketball, but we showed a lot of growth in the past few weeks, both individually and at times collectively. And so there's stuff to build off of. But at the same time, the task is tall and if you want to be in the mix, then you've gotta be better than we were."
Those proved to be some of the final remarks Stevens delivered to Celtics players as their head coach. As Danny Ainge reportedly steps down as the franchise's president of basketball operations, Stevens is expected to take on a prominent front-office role in Boston, creating a head-coaching vacancy.
