Brad Stevens Laughs Off Lakers Rumors, Says He 'Definitely' Wouldn't Leave Celtics For Rival
BOSTON (CBS) -- Brad Stevens enjoyed a good laugh on Thursday morning. When asked about the possibility of leaving the Boston front office for the Lakers opening at head coach, the Celtics president of basketball ops. said in no uncertain terms that he would never leave the C's for their historic rival.
"No comment. Not entertaining [the report]," Stevens told 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich.
Stevens admitted that was a comment on the report though, so he took it a few steps further.
"I definitely would not leave the Celtics to go to the Lakers. I know that for a fact," he said, adding that there are much better candidates out there to take over the for recently fired Frank Vogel.
"How about the fact that I've lived in Boston for nine years, and everything in my closet is green. That is enough. Isn't that a little bit of a rivalry? Come on," he continued. "My whole existence has been about getting this team to be as good as it could be. Let's keep it that way. The good news is we just wasted a few minutes."
This isn't the first time Stevens has shot down rumors that he would be could potentially be leaving Boston. Just last year, his final year as Celtics head coach, Stevens had to make it clear that he would not be leaving Boston to return to the college ranks when the Indiana job opened up. Indiana was reportedly set to offer Stevens a whole lot of cash to return to his home state, but Stevens was not interested.
And why would Stevens want to leave a cushy gig with the Celtics for the current dumpster fire that is the Lakers? In his first season as Boston's main decision-maker, Stevens is getting a lot of consideration for Executive of the Year, and his moves (from re-acquiring Al Horford to his trade deadline deals) have the Celtics back as title contenders as the No. 2 seed in the East.
Stevens made it clear Thursday that he bleeds -- and wears -- green, and that won't be changing anytime soon.
