The Boston Celtics had eagerly been anticipating the arrival of July 1st, the NBA’s annual free agency tip-off, for most of the 2015-’16 campaign. Their sights were locked onto the league’s hottest and most valuable free agent, Kevin Durant, who was coming off yet another disappointing Playoff run with the Thunder.
Boston, particularly Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens, knew as well as anyone that every team besides the NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers would try their absolute hardest at luring the four-time scoring champion to their team. But with the Celtics being led by the always aggressive Ainge, they took their chances and went the only way they know how in pursuing big name targets: Big.
While other teams — Golden State, Oklahoma City, and San Antonio to name a few — solely brought its players and franchise members, the Celtics believed its chances of signing Durant would rise if Boston legend Tom Brady would be in attendance for their meeting. Brady, one of Kevin Durant’s favorite athletes of all-time, would be their final piece to the quest of adding #35 to the team. Unfortunately for the Celtics, Durant was ultimately swayed to the Bay Area.
Two months later, and head coach Brad Stevens is giving insight into the Celtics’ meeting with Durant, and the important effect Tom Brady had (via The Ringer Podcast):
“I didn’t even know that [Tom Brady] was going for sure until that morning”, Stevens said. “The players and I flew together from Atlanta, because we had met with Al [Horford] the evening before. [Brady and Celtics representatives] quickly went out to eat lunch before the meeting, and you know, I think [he is] a great example of a guy that is obviously an incredibly high achiever, has won at the highest level, is totally committed to being the greatest that he can be, and loves being a part of Boston sports. He loves living in Boston, talked about how much his family enjoys Boston … about raising his kids here — you know everything else.
“He really came across as just a normal guy, and I was really impressed with him”, Stevens continued. “It was the first time I had really spent any time with him. I had been to a practice of theirs before where I got a chance to meet him briefly, but he was great and people respect not only the fact that he’s accomplished all that he’s accomplished, but he’s just a really down-to-earth person.”
While Durant did come close to taking his talents to the TD Garden, in the end, Tom Brady and the Celtics’ recruiting efforts just simply fell flat. The Celtics were shell-shocked, as the team was confident Durant would join them.
“It was like a slap in the face for us, basically”, Celtics forward Jae Crowder said after Durant announced his decision.
“We thought we had a real chance”, Isaiah Thomas told Basketball Insiders. “The meeting went great. I felt like if Al (Horford) had committed before that meeting and was able to go to the meeting [with Kevin], I think that would have helped even more. At the same time, Kevin Durant surprised everybody by picking the Golden State Warriors. In our meeting, he was a fan of what he had going, was a fan of Brad Stevens and Danny Ainge and those types of things.”
The Celtics have since moved on, adding free-agents Al Horford and Gerald Green and readying rookies Jaylen Brown, Demetrius Jackson, and Ben Bentil for their first season. Despite losing out on a top-3 player, Boston is expected to be in the forefront of contention in the East once again this season, believed by many to be Cleveland’s top challenger.
Kevin Durant and the Warriors first play the Celtics on November 11th at TD Garden.
