For the Celtics, Brad Stevens Isn't Going Anywhere Anytime Soon

The Celtics announced that head coach Brad Stevens signed a contract extension that will have him in Boston for the foreseeable future.

Every weekday, SI’s Chris Mannix will check-in with his Bubble Bits, a quick hit on something notable from inside the NBA’s campus

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – Every couple of years, it comes up: A major college coaching job becomes available, and Brad Stevens’ name gets thrown in the mix. Stevens, who elevated Butler to the NCAA national championship game in 2010 before bolting to Boston a few years later, gets asked about his interest. The answer—some version of “not interested” are always the same.

It could be some time before Stevens is asked about rejoining the college ranks. Stevens signed a contract extension with Boston, the team announced on Wednesday. Stevens, 43, had agreed to the deal several weeks ago, sources told SI, a contract that will keep him on a job he has held since 2013 for the foreseeable future.

“I’ll let you guess on the years,” Stevens told reporters on Thursday. “One of the things that’s been really important to [Stevens wife] Tracy and I all the way through was if we were going to do this coaching thing to try our best to make it as stable as possible without moving too much. We’ve been incredibly blessed when you consider 13 years at Butler and finishing up a seventh with the Celtics. I think in coaching you expect it to end at some point by being let go or being fired. It’s kind of the nature of the business. So I’ve never really focused on that. I’ve tried to focus on doing the job as well as I can.

He’s done it well. Really well. Boston won 25 games in Stevens first season. They won 40 in his second. They have never won fewer than 48 since, including this one, where the Celtics have the highest winning percentage (.676) in the Stevens era. Stevens has led Boston to back-to-back conference finals in ’17 and ’18, falling to LeBron James’s Cavaliers both times.

Boston’s struggles last season put Stevens in critics crosshairs, specifically his relationship with Kyrie Irving. His handling of Gordon Hayward, who was coming back from a gruesome leg injury suffered, was questioned. He faced regular queries about why the team chemistry was crumbling.

Still: Boston has bounced back this season. Kemba Walker, signed to replace Irving in the offseason, has fit in seamlessly. The Celtics young stars, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, have resumed an upward trajectory, with Tatum making his first All-Star team this year and Brown just missing out. Despite losing defensive anchors Al Horford and Aron Baynes last summer, Boston ranks in the top-five in the league in defensive rating.

“Last year was really difficult,” Stevens said. “But this year has been reinvigorating in a ton of ways for a ton of us. We’re all excited about where we are and where we’re headed.”

Where Stevens is headed, geographically, is nowhere. A return to the college ranks may still come up—Duke, whenever Mike Krzyzewski retires, could pursue Stevens—but pro coaches rarely voluntarily go back. The NBA lifestyle, not having to deal with the rigors of recruiting, it’s appealing. Not to mention the healthy paycheck.

Stevens is an NBA head coach. It’s likely he will remain one as long as he wants.