The Lakers’ head coaching vacancy is sure to spark plenty of discussions and rumors for however long it takes the team to fill the position.
Just don’t expect any of those conversations to involve Brad Stevens.
The former Celtics head coach and current president of basketball operations made it clear during his Thursday appearance on the Toucher & Rich radio show that he has zero desire to leave Boston for L.A. and is content with the position he is currently in.
“No,” a chuckling Stevens said when asked if he would entertain the Lakers job. “No comment, not entertaining.”
Stevens, who coached the Celtics for eight seasons before stepping away to succeed a retiring Danny Ainge last June, doubled down on his answer after he was asked if enjoys living in Boston and working for the team.
“Yeah. I mean, first of all, I have no idea what my future holds. I’m in one of those positions where it could easily be, somebody decides to move on from me, you know, this is just the world we live in. But, I definitely would not leave the Celtics to go to the Lakers. Like, I’m definitely not doing that, I know that for a fact.”
Well, there you have it Lakers fans.
While the idea of spurning Beantown for Tinseltown is one Stevens says he would never consider, the ex-coach would be one of the more qualified candidates in the market should he ever decide to return to the sidelines. He led the Celtics to a combined 354–282 record and seven consecutive playoff appearances, including three trips to the conference Finals, from 2013 to ’21.
His successful first season as team president gave him plenty of reasons to stick it out as the club finished 51–31 and earned a No. 2 seed for the first time in five years. But, in case anyone doesn’t believe Stevens means what he says, there is one more notable reason, aside from the team’s success, for him to stay in town.
“How about the fact that I’ve lived in Boston for nine years? Everything in my closet is green,” he said. “That’s enough, that’s enough.”
