Celtics Give Brad Stevens His Flowers Ahead Of NBA Finals

If you had to divvy up credit for the Boston Celtics' latest appearance in the NBA Finals, how much would fall into the lap of Brad Stevens?

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are filling up the box score every night. Derrick White and Jrue Holiday have been the best "utility guys" you could ask for. Kristaps Porzingis is a game-changer when healthy, and Al Horford, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser each have pitched in with winning performances throughout the season. Joe Mazzulla has even been great, though people don't seem all that interested in giving him any credit.

Stevens, though, can be thanked for putting it all together.

He's the guy who was bold enough to swing trades for Holiday and Porzingis, despite being fairly new to his role as president of basketball operations. The C's have been impressed with his transition, and three years in, aren't surprised in the least in how well it's worked out.

"I think Brad has been great in his role as GM," Jaylen Brown said, per team-provided video. "He was a great coach. I think he just continued that by just being a great GM, being able to put the right pieces together and things like that. I'm just happy for him.

"... Brad has been great since he's been a part of the Boston organization. He's helped bring this organization back in terms of winning. He's now been able to move into that GM position and put the right pieces together to get us back to the Finals."

Stevens has made all the right moves, bringing the Celtics within four wins of Banner 18.

"Brad, giving me my start, hiring me, empowering me from day one as an assistant, giving me some of the opportunities that he has -- but also the way he carries himself," Mazzulla said, per league-provided video. "I've always had a lot of respect for how he went about coaching, how he kept family balance number one, how he treated people number one. That was always more important than whether there was a success or a failure. I think he spearheads the leadership, the temperature of the building, just as everybody else does."

He can only sit back and watch now, with Mazzulla, Tatum, Brown and company tasked with delivering the final checkmark on a legacy that has already been pre-written.