What Kind of Pressure is on Brad Stevens

The Boston Celtics have reached a culmination in their rebuild, changing the kind of pressure put on Brad Stevens

Brad Stevens has had quite a start to his NBA career. He has been at the helm of one of the quickest and most successful rebuilds in the history of the NBA. He has taken sub par talent and turned them into a playoff team.

Stevens has universally earned the respect of the league, and he had that before he even won a playoff series. Quite frankly, you’d be hard pressed to find any coach who gained so much respect that quickly to start out his career.

Then, last season, he ticked off the one box that people would criticize him about, by making great playoff adjustments and going as far as anyone could have possibly expected them.

This season, however, things could change. Stevens now has more talent than all except maybe one team in the East, and anything short of a one seed in the East and a Finals appearance will look like a disappointment for some.

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For the first time in his career, Stevens may be dealing with a new kind of pressure. The good news is that he has already been extended, and Danny Ainge’s unwavering support means that there will never be a dire situation.

Even if the Boston Celtics are a disappointment across the board, Stevens has done more than enough to earn job security through one season like that.

Even with that in mind, Stevens is still going to be in a different place this season. There will be a different feel any time the Celtics go on an extended stretch when they struggle. There will be a different worry if one of their players are not working out, because they have tied themselves quite firmly to this core, at least for the next few years.

Stevens is used to having resounding regular season success, and in this Eastern Conference that really should not be a problem. Breezing through the regular season, however, is not enough to take away this kind of pressure.

The perception of the Celtics is no longer going to be as tied to winning those regular season games, because Stevens is past that. Stevens now has to deal with the pressure of expectations to dominate.

Of course, once the playoffs come around, all that matters are the wins and loses. That being said, while the season is going on, Stevens could deal with a new kind of backlash, even if they are winning.

And, if Stevens is unable to have success with this much talent, that will be the first time in his career where Ainge may wonder if he can only do his best work with under talented teams (as ridiculous as that sounds, it could be a lingering risk).

The Celtics need to show that they are on another level than the rest of the East. They now need to prove that they have closed the gap between them and the Cavaliers, and have separated themselves from the second tier they were in last season.

Stevens may also have to deal with a new kind of pressure coming from preventing players from coasting. The Celtics have established an identity on being the hardest working team. Now, all of a sudden, they will not have to be the hardest working team to win in the regular season, and if that becomes habit forming, then Stevens loses one of the biggest edges he has established throughout his career.

Stevens is not going into this season with pre established pressure, but there are a lot more factors for him to take into account. The standard of what this team needs to be absolutely sky rocketed this offseason, and Stevens is in the easiest position of his career to get the kind of criticism that he has avoided so far.

The patience of the Celtics front office is the most important thing in making sure none of these issues change anything in Stevens. The Celtics know they have the coach they want, and the biggest risk is if these factors change something in his approach.

Stevens has always maintained the calm demeanor, and fans should have all the confidence they need that if things start to get hard, Stevens is the one you want to guide them through the struggles.

Chances are that with so many different players on this team, there are going to be rough patches, and that is going to bring out a new kind of criticism that this team has not dealt with for years now.

There are new kind of pressure because this is a new stage in his career. So far, Stevens has blown away every test at every stage of his career. The difference now is that the stakes are higher. A misstep by Stevens in the past meant an earlier end to a fun season. A misstep this season is different because it threatens what is the first culmination in this rebuild.

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The core of Isaiah Thomas, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford needs to win now, or they could be blown up. There is no more cap space and if there are massive signs that Stevens is unable to make it work with this core this year, then Ainge may decide to refocus on the young prospects they now have, and put all the efforts into winning with the next core. Fortunately, Stevens should have already done enough to be leading that second core no matter what happens with this first.