The Boston Celtics will have a dynamic duo going the New Orleans for the 2017 NBA All-Star Weekend. They found out the news of Isaiah Thomas’ selection as an Eastern Conference All-Star and now his coach will be heading down to NOLA with him.
The news became official Friday night when the Orlando Magic topped the third-place Toronto Raptors, 102-94. A Toronto loss ensured that the Celtics would have the No. 2 mark in the East through Sunday. The C’s were in the middle of a victory over the Los Angeles Lakers as the news of Stevens becoming the Eastern Conference All-Star was released.
Stevens will coach against Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who will bring his staff to New Orleans to coach the Western Conference NBA All-Stars.
Following from the Boston Celtics website.
Brad Stevens and his assistants learned Friday night that they will be coaching the Eastern Conference All-Stars on Feb. 19 when they take the floor against the Steve Kerr-led Western Conference All-Stars.
The coaching staffs of the top teams in each conference through Sunday’s games earn the privilege to coach at the All-Star Game. Tyronn Lue, whose Cleveland squad currently holds the top spot in the Eastern Conference, is ineligible to coach the contest since he did so last season.
This means the East honor goes to the coaching staff of the team with the second-best record, which happens to be Stevens and his hardworking crew.
Stevens, however, deflected any and all praise back to his players, claiming the honor was based solely on their efforts throughout the season.
“I think none of us are crazy enough to think you get there without really good players, and the players certainly carry the coaches,” said Stevens, whose Celtics surged ahead of Toronto this week to claim the second-best record in the East.
“But with regard to the staff,” he added, “I think our staff works really hard. I’ve tried to prioritize hiring humble, hardworking and intelligent people. And they come every day, they work really hard, they do a lot behind the scenes, they put in a lot of time and effort, and so it’s nice that they’re going to be a part of that as well.”
