Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens and his staff were in charge of the Eastern Conference All-Stars this year, and the group is said to have made a very good impression on some of the NBA’s most talented players.
The Celtics coaching staff reportedly showed a video before the game on Sunday that featured all 12 Eastern Conference All-Stars from their younger playing years through the present day. Two sources told Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that the clips, which included a young Carmelo Anthony in braids, went over well with the team and impressed LeBron James in particular.
Why does it matter? It sounds like Stevens — one of the youngest coaches in the NBA — has the respect of some of the game’s top superstars. Some wondered if the former Butler coach would be able to relate to professional athletes and motivate them the way he did with college players, and Stevens has done a good job of that in his three-plus seasons with the Celtics.
If you want to read further into it, you could make a case that it is important for Stevens to connect with guys like Anthony, Paul George and Jimmy Butler — players who have been linked to the Celtics via trade rumors in recent weeks. We recently wrote about the possibility of Anthony going to the Celtics, and you can read more about that here.
Stevens could also be helping his cause with top players in future free agent discussions. Boston has historically been a place that cannot keep up with even bigger markets like New York and Los Angeles in free agency, so any tiny edge you can gain helps. At the very least, the video montage was a thoughtful idea that did not go unnoticed.
