Have Celtics Improved During Busy Offseason? Brad Stevens Gives Funny Answer

Brad Stevens’ upward move with Boston Celtics hasn’t cost him his sense of humor.

The Celtics president of basketball operations delivered a killer one-liner Thursday during a video press conference. A reporter asked Stevens whether the Celtics now are better than they were at the end of last season. Stevens’ deadpan response is comedic gold.

“Obviously we improved our coaching and added some good players,” he said, per The Athletic’s Jared Weiss.

Stevens, as you might remember, was Boston’s head coach between 2013 and June 2, when he stepped up to replace the retiring Danny Ainge as Celtics president. Stevens hired Ime Udoka as head coach weeks later and also has reshaped Boston’s roster with a host of personnel moves.

With training camp just over the horizon, Stevens believes the Celtics now are in a good place.

“We want to be a good basketball team. I think we’re in a good position from the big picture standpoint,” he said, per Yahoo! Sports’ Keith Smith.

Stevens also set a lofty goal for the Celtics in 2021-22 and beyond.

“I want us to be a team that Boston can really get behind, that plays with grit and toughness that’s necessary to compete at a very high level,” he said, per Celtics.com’s Taylor Snow.

Boston will open its regular season schedule Oct. 20 at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks. Stevens is bound to be there but probably not all week.