In the midst of a tumultuous season, Celtics still trust in Brad Stevens more than ever

For the first time in the Brad Stevens era, the Celtics will not improve on their win total in the regular season, breaking a string of five straight years. From an expectations standpoint, this group underachieved in the standings but the bigger story from this regular season from a historical lens will be the rollercoaster ride of emotions endured on a nightly basis. From a 10-10 start to embarrassing losses, multiple lineup changes, team meetings, fingerpointing in the locker room, and an All-Star, free-agent-to-be backtracking on his future standing with the team, Stevens has been the man in the middle trying to keep this train from fully derailing for the last six months.

Danny Ainge knew there was a possibility of internal strife when he elected to bring back this roster fully intact with not enough minutes to keep everyone satisfied after last year’s surprise postseason run largely because he trusted Stevens to piece this thing together. However, the challenges have been tougher than most in the organization could have imagined.

“I expected this (year) to be a difficult one,” Stevens acknowledged last month. “I’ll talk about the journey when it’s over. I’ll address that and what it’s been for me and what we ultimately become, after it’s all over.”

Stevens has dealt with plenty of obstacles throughout his NBA career and succeeded with flying colors on many to the surprise of many in the NBA world. He managed to secure a playoff spot in 2015 for a squad that featured over 25 different players and seven trades during the course of a regular season. He turned castoffs into reliable role pieces nearly every year season prior to 2018-19. He pieced his way through debilitating injuries to Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving last season to produce a 55-win campaign and a team that reached the doorstep of the NBA Finals.

Through all of those seasons though, Stevens never had to publicly deal with the politics of a locker room that was peppered with different priorities that trickled into the team performance. That changed this year though. There were guys playing for their next contracts, others who wanted to show their play last year was no fluke while forcing into reduced roles and the integration of a star coming off an injury. Even a couple of those subplots would have been a lot to handle, but trying to manage all of that at once for a group that was underachieving from the first night of the preseason was a constant struggle for the head coach for much of the year. There’s no question it’s taken a toll on Stevens, something key members of the roster have recognized.

“It's something different It's something that I don't think he has ever dealt with before and a lot of us honestly,” Al Horford told BostonSportsJournal.com. “We really haven't gone through anything like this.

"It's had its ups and downs but he's really stayed true to who he is as far as everything I've seen: Consistent, preaching the same message to our group and it's been about all of us really being engaging and buying into how he wants us to play.”

“He has probably the toughest job as a coach, dealing with all these egos, all these players,” Terry Rozier acknowledged. “We have a lot of young players, we got a lot of players that did a lot in the playoffs. It's a lot to deal with. It's not easy on him and that's why I told myself I could never be a coach. Kudos to him for a lot of stuff that he's handling this year. I couldn't do it.”

No player on the roster has spent more time with Stevens than Gordon Hayward throughout the course of his career and he expounded on the layer of challenges that he has seen Stevens trying to handle all year long.

“It's something that is part of the NBA that you don't necessarily experience in college, or at least most coaches don't experience it in college where the last two or three years, he's almost had completely different teams and have had to figure it out on the fly,” Hayward explained. “He's had to deal with not only coaching the teams and X and Os but also guys roles and playing time and all that other stuff. It's for sure probably been difficult.”

Despite those obstacles, there’s no question that this has likely been Stevens’ toughest year to date in Boston in terms of his own performance. There are fair critiques of his job from delayed lineup changes to rotation choices and late-game decisions. Kyrie Irving is probably the only one on the roster to openly question the head coach after games (after the Hornets loss), but Stevens took that stride and countered it himself the next night. He backed his players amid numerous team meetings and public declarations of ‘no fun' by Marcus Morris. There has been plenty of sniping but there have been no anonymous fingerpointing coming out of the locker room, keeping with a goal that Stevens had during training camp: If you are going to take issue with something, put your name to it.

Stevens has also maintained strong bonds with his players during periods of turmoil, using them as a resource to navigate tough periods instead of creating a divide.

“I think he's been good, at least with me, talking with me individually and seeing what I'm thinking and feeling and how he can help me,” Hayward said. “I'm pretty sure he's doing that with other guys as well. The good coaches I have had in the past have done things like that as well. They have individual relationships with different guys and players and I think that's important.”

“I think, he's always open to improving and being better,” Horford added. “I'm sure that he's learned a lot already in a few months since all of this has transpired. I just think that all these experiences are just going to make him a better coach.”

As the page turns towards the postseason, it’s already evident some of those lessons from the regular season are having a major impact on Stevens. He’s committed to a bigger starting lineup despite his preference for versatility in the starting five in order to get this team better on the defensive end. His constant minutes for Hayward all year long are paying dividends in the past few weeks as well. He’s on the same page with Irving and is holding him accountable more, as evidenced by pulling him from the Heat game in Miami last week late due to defensive lapses (wisely publicly referred to as foul trouble). He has this group pointed in the right direction as the postseason approaches (five wins in last seven games) and that has translated into confidence in the Celtics locker room. The trust remains there despite the bumps along the way.

“He's always been able to figure it out and he's had success wherever he's been at,” Hayward said. “It's just another challenge for him and for us as a group as well.

“He's doing a great job,” Rozier added. “This is not easy. You have a lot of guys that want to play every game, all game. Dealing with that, it's a tough go. He's putting guys in the right position and we're going to be special.”

Where the Celtics ultimately finish this postseason will ultimately rely on how well the players execute and there margin for error for this group is reduced after a disappointing regular season, but the end game still feels attainable now internally. This group has the ideal path right now towards the Eastern Conference Finals (Pacers, Bucks) and believe they have all the tools to get there, in large part thanks to the head coach.

“There’s only so much he can do for us,” Smart explained. “He’s not out there playing and not out there seeing what we’re seeing. He can only put us in positions, but we have to go out there and execute. He believes in us and we believe in Brad. Brad is Brad, ya know? He’s going to do anything in his power to get us on track and we have to do our part.”