Rebuilding is now a reality for the Boston Celtics.
The team announced Brad Stevens will relinquish his role as head coach and step in as the new president of basketball operations, replacing Danny Ainge, who resigned on Wednesday after 18 years in the role.
Stevens will lead the team’s search for a new head coach.
“I’m excited for Brad,” Ainge told reporters. “He was born for this.”
Stevens came to fame after taking his mid-major Butler University men’s basketball teams to back-to-back national championship game appearances in 2010 and 2011.
He then became a hot commodity, with the Celtics winning the bidding war.
- Stevens was hired as head coach in a six-year, $22 million deal in 2013, replacing current Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers.
- He signed a three-year extension in 2016, then another in 2020 that would’ve kept him as head coach through the 2024-25 season.
- Indiana University was prepared to offer Stevens a seven-year, $70 million contract in April, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
The shift in power follows the Celtics’ first-round playoff exit to the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday.
Despite playoff appearances every season as head coach, Stevens and his teams have failed to meet the championship expectations of the organization.
