The earthquake-like tremors felt across the NBA landscape with Boston Celtics czar Danny Ainge retiring and Brad Stevens being his replacement, can still be felt.
Celtics fans were clamoring for change after the teams’ season mercifully came to an end following their Game 5 loss to Brooklyn.
Well … that’s what you got.
Buckle up, because there are sure to be more radical moves on the horizon as the Celtics begin the search for a new coach.
There will be a number of candidates to emerge in the coming days, but league executives contacted by BostonSportsJournal.com believe San Antonio assistant coach Becky Hammon will be on Stevens’ shortlist of candidates.
Selecting Hammon as the next head coach of the Celtics would be unprecedented, with her being the first woman hired as an NBA head coach. And while the historical significance can’t be ignored, neither can the body of work she has assembled, which more than her gender, makes her an ideal candidate for the job.
Since 2014, the 44-year-old Hammon has been an assistant under Gregg Popovich, one of the greatest coaches in NBA history. One of Stevens’ biggest fans since he has been in the NBA?
Popovich.
In 2015, Hammon was tasked with coaching San Antonio’s summer league team. How did she do?
The Spurs won it all.
Of course, a summer league title isn’t the same as an NBA championship.
But it is a reminder of how when given an opportunity to lead, she did it at the highest level she could - similar to what Stevens did at Butler in leading the mid-major Bulldogs to back-to-back national championship runner-up finishes.
However, an edge that Hammon would have over Stevens when he was hired in 2013, is she has experience in the league as an assistant coach in addition to having had an illustrious playing career professionally.
Some of the Hammon highlights:
A 16-year WNBA veteran
WNBA’s Top 15 players of All-Time
No. 25 jersey retired by San Antonio Stars
Six-time WNBA All-Star
Two-time All-WNBA First Team (2007, 2009)
Two-time All-WNBA Second Team (2005, 2008)
And if there were to be an NBA team to hire the first female head coach, it would make sense for it to be the Boston Celtics. This is the same organization that drafted the first Black player (Chuck Cooper, 1950) into the NBA, had the league’s first all-Black starting five in 1964, and had the first Black head coach (Bill Russell, 1966).
Not only would the Celtics be hiring a head coach with the kind of qualifications that are head coach-worthy, but it would also take some of the attention off of Stevens’ unusual hiring.
By anyone’s metrics, this past season was a disappointment for Boston. It was one of the few seasons when a Stevens-coached team did not show notable progress, either in terms of wins or overall player development. To have a season like that and wind up with the top job in the organization’s basketball operations department certainly raised quite a few eyebrows among league officials.
One league executive pointed out how then-head coach Doc Rivers was “traded” to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2013 after an underwhelming season in Boston. And like Stevens, Rivers wanted a larger role in personnel matters.
“Doc got traded, but Brad gets a promotion?” the executive pointed out. “And Doc won a title (in 2008), the only title in Danny’s time as the GM. I know times were different, but … it’s just a bad look when you see how they handled Doc and how different they’re handing Brad.”
Tatum’s growth
Jayson Tatum’s leadership ranked among the most talked-about topics this past season, resulting in a lot of second-guessing and criticism from fans and the media. Although the Celtics were eliminated in five games by Brooklyn, Tatum’s game and his leadership showed the kind of growth that fans have been clamoring for all season.
There were far more moments in which Tatum was leading both with his play and his words. In those five games, Tatum averaged 30.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game.
"I've made strides every season,” Tatum told reporters. “I know that and the coaches and my teammates know that. I know there's a lot of people out there that have their opinions on how I should lead or my demeanor or things like that, and the cool part is that doesn't matter. I get to be myself and not really have to listen to how people think I should lead.”
C’s lovin’ (a healthy) Romeo Langford
Romeo Langford’s health during the latter stages of the playoffs was not a factor, a reminder to Celtics fans of his potential going forward if - and it’s a big IF I know - he can stay healthy.
In Boston’s season-ending Game 5 loss to Brooklyn, Langford had a career-high 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting which included a trio of 3-pointers. He added a couple of assists, two steals, and two blocked shots while logging 38 minutes.
Of course, you can’t expect that kind of production from Langford on a night-in, night-out basis. But he is showing that he can contribute in ways other than utilizing his length as a wing defender.
And that’s huge for a Celtics team that will look to retool its rotation next season, a rotation that - if he can stay healthy and that’s a big IF - should include Langford.
Short offseason, shorter run for top teams
The NBA didn’t waste time getting back on the court following the 2020 season concluding in the Bubble. The Los Angeles Lakers put away the Miami Heat for the franchise’s 17th NBA title in October, with the NBA season resuming just a couple of months later in December.
For the top teams from last season, it definitely didn’t help.
Of the last four teams playing in the NBA last season - Boston, Miami, Denver, and the Lakers - the Nuggets are the only squad to have made it out of the first round of the playoffs this season.
Miami was swept by the Milwaukee Bucks. It took the Brooklyn Nets five games to put the Celtics away. And the Lakers, whose season started just 71 days after they won the franchise’s 17th NBA title, saw their reign atop the NBA end following a 113-98 Game 6 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Thursday.