Is Brad Stevens' communication a problem for Boston?

by **112288** Wed Jun 26, 2019 10:10 pm

Gabby Guerard - June 26, 2019 - 2:40 pm

While Brad Stevens is known as one of the best NBA coaches, recent developments have some questioning how the head coach may be negatively contributing to the Celtics.
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NBA reporter Sean Deveney reports that a veteran player and an agent have both "griped" about Stevens' communication.
"A veteran player told me a couple of years ago that his role in Boston was tough because he was never really told what was expected of him and that Stevens didn't necessarily connect with players," Deveney wrote. "That appeared to be the case this season, too, when the Celtics had a chemistry meltdown and Stevens could not rein in his locker room."

Many players have said that chemistry was an issue last season, including Jayson Tatum. Back on June 11, Tatum spoke to Jeff Goodman on CLNS' Good N’ Plenty podcast, stating, "At times, our chemistry was what it needed to be, and sometimes it wasn't…" Though, he was also quick to add, "And it's not one person's fault. It's not Brad's fault or Danny's fault…"

While Tatum didn't believe that it's all his fault, Deveney believes Stevens could at least be part of the problem. In addition to a veteran player citing communication issues with the Celtics' head coach, Deveney also reports that an agent had a similar complaint.
"One agent told me, 'Most players don't need their hands held, but they want to know where they stand and what they need to do. That's not always coming from Stevens and it can be frustrating,'" he said.

With free agency quickly approaching, a communication issue with a head coach likely the last thing that a team wants to sort out, especially on top of the fact that the Celtics already need to find replacements for Al Horford and Kyrie Irving. However, Deveney shared that according to the agent, it shouldn't be too much of an issue.

"Asked whether those issues were enough to keep clients from signing with the Celtics, the agent said, 'They have money, they want to win, they have a good organization. You'd like the lines of communication to be better but that would not keep any of my players from signing there.'"

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