Brad Stevens - the duct tape in Celtics disaster kit & COY candidate


How does Coach Brad Stevens keep doing this?
Injuries? He finds replacements. Hurt player feelings. He soothes them. Lack of confidence among the troops? Gives it a boost. Tough match-ups? Finds a way to win. Do-everything NBA players are often referred to as Swiss Army knives for their versatility. Brad is Boston's duct tape coach, and that is high praise. The tape belongs in everyone's disaster kit, and it has even been used for repair in outer space and foreign wars (per Wikipedia):

Usage in spaceflight
A workaround used duct tape and other items on board Apollo 13, with the ground crew relaying instructions to the flight crew. The lunar module's CO2 scrubbers started working again, saving the lives of the three astronauts on board.

Ed Smylie, who designed the scrubber modification in just two days, said later that he knew the problem was solvable when it was confirmed that duct tape was on the spacecraft: "I felt like we were home free," he said in 2005. "One thing a Southern boy will never say is, 'I don't think duct tape will fix it.'"

Military usage
... specific variety of duct tape that was supposed to withstand up to 100 mph (160 km/h; 87 kn) winds. The tape is so named because it was used during the Vietnam War to repair or balance helicopter rotor blades


Like duct tape, it seems that Stevens is able to fix anything. Disaster started early with Gordon Hayward going down in the first minutes of the regular season. Gordon was most-likely lost for the entire season, and other injuries to key players have plagued the Celtics ever since. Daniel Theis (meniscus surgery) almost certainly won't be back this season, and we await the return of Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart from surgically-repaired body parts.


Despite the problems, Boston has the second-best record (50/23) in the East and fourth best record in the NBA. They have won their last three games with a severely-depleted roster. Brad always seems to devise a lineup and strategy that will lead to a win. He absolutely needs to be given serious consideration for NBA Coach-of-the-Year. He is a supreme innovator and motivator. This should be Brad's year.

Follow Tom at @TomLaneHC

Photo via Maddie Meyer/Getty