Brad Stevens would have every right to feel a little vindicated after the Boston Celtics have struggled to start the season.
During his time as head coach, he frequently opted to fall on the sword — which he had to do quite often last season as the Celtics displayed much of the same issues plaguing them this year. His successor, Ime Udoka, has taken a different approach in publicly holding his players accountable.
While that may have been welcomed by fans initially, the optics after a frustrating 16-19 start to the season don’t look great, and after almost every tough loss, Udoka’s name can be found trending on Twitter by Green Teamers who have become disenfranchised.
Outside factors like injuries and the COVID-19 pandemic have made his first head coaching stint more dramatic than it should be, and Stevens made that point in an interview with The Boston Globe.
“I have a lot of admiration for him,” Stevens said in the piece published Thursday. “He’s seen a lot in his first 35 games as a head coach, right? He’s seen the wild swings of ups and downs and has every right to be super-emotional and riding the roller coaster and all that, and he’s pretty darn even. He’s always going back to work. So whether we win or lose, he just goes back to work the next day and tries to help this team get a little bit better. It is not easy.”
Stevens himself was known for drawing up plays and making midgame adjustments and swears Udoka has the same mentality.
“He’s a guy I believe in,” Stevens said. “I just think it’s so important not to get into celebrating your success or bemoaning your losses. It’s about, go find solutions. And he does that. He’s constantly searching, constantly thinking.”
