Once Again, Brad Stevens Says He's Still Committed to Coaching Celtics, Not Indiana

In even stronger terms on Friday, Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens once again reiterated that he's not interesting the vacancy at Indiana and enjoys coaching in Boston.

Brad Stevens had to meet with the media again on Friday prior to the Boston Celtics' game with the Sacramento Kings, and for the second time this week, he said he's not interested in the job at Indiana.

He's the coach of the Celtics, he said. And he has no intention of going anywhere.

“I’m not a kid anymore, I’m a 44-year-old Masshole,” Stevens said. “I swerve around others when I’m driving, I eat Dunkin’ Donuts and I root for the Patriots. I’ve, unfortunately, been skewed in a lot of ways I guess.”

Stevens has been the coach of the stories Boston Celtics franchise for eight years now, but he was born and raised in Indiana, and spent lots of time in Bloomington as a kid, cutting his basketball teeth. The Zionsville, Ind., native went to DePauw and coached at Butler, going to consecutive NCAA title games.

Indiana is in his blood. Still is. But as much as he appreciates the interest and attention, he's happy right where he is.

“I tried to say it as clearly as I could and also make sure that people understand that that place, to me, is special. Home is home,” Stevens said. “Like I said the other day, I’m so grateful for this organization and to the people here for all that they’ve done for us.”

Boston and Stevens agreed to a long-term extension last summer, and he's had success  there with the young and growing Celtics, making the Eastern Conference Finals in three of the past four seasons. This year, though, they are just 20-20 heading into Friday night's game.

“We’re going through a tough season,” Stevens said. “I think that it’s not my job to not go through it. It’s not my job not make sure that I’m doing everything I can to help find a better version of ourselves this year. I love coming to work every day. I love this area. People have been so great to us.”

Stevens is 338-266 in his seven-plus seasons with the Celtics. Over that span, only the Golden State Warriors have won more playoff games than the Celtics have. Stevens is the fifth-longest tenured NBA coach with their current team, behind Gregg Popovich (San Antonio), Eric Spoelstra (Miami), Rick Carlisle (Dallas) and Terry Stotts (Portland).