Did we believe the Brad Stevens hype up until now?

Boston Celtics’ head coach Brad Stevens is completely under Celtics fans’ radar after a lackluster 2018-19 season…and there’s honestly no telling how he’ll respond going forward.

Upon Brad Stevens arriving in Boston Massachusetts in 2013 to assume the position of what was to be a full-on rebuild of the Boston Celtics, many around the league were wary of what to expect from the former Butler University head coach. His resumé stood out to many thanks to his then recent 2010 trip to the NCAA Final Four with a Gordon Hayward headlining roster, a story that came full circle as the two were reunited in the summer of 2017.

Yet Stevens slowly but surely rose to the occasion season after season, steadily improving his winning percentage one after another. After being tasked with a group of misfits and out-of-prime veterans for most of his first two seasons, Stevens was awarded the roster he deserved to make a decent playoff run when general manager Danny Ainge delivered Isaiah Thomas to a squad filled with capable role players that exceeded expectations.

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Was there hype surrounding Brad that we were led on to believe? Not in one bit. He made a name for himself with players that had little to nothing to contribute. After a symbolic 2016-17 season that put the league on notice of just what his coaching prowess was capable of, many executives and players began praising the young coach, referring to him as the Gregg Popovich of his era.

That idolizing moment is no longer the case, as Stevens just finished what was undoubtedly his most drama-filled and upsetting season as head coach of the Celtics. The oddest bit for many fans that watched on from afar was simple: This should be easy for Brad…right?

The obvious answer was elementary— take the success from the prior season, mix in your two returning All-Stars in Kyrie Irving and Hayward and just like that you’re surely in the NBA Finals. Those of us with no coaching experience even felt as those we could have Stevens’ job if all just for this one season with so much talent beaming on the roster sheet. Yet Stevens couldn’t put it together through what was a drawn out season that many wanted to simply end.

The return of Irving and Hayward was more than the coaching staff had anticipated. Stevens quickly found himself attempting to fulfill the needs of Irving while also maximizing Hayward’s comeback potential, which more than likely left rising stars in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown with fewer shots and a reduced role.

Stevens perhaps saw it coming, but in the event he didn’t, we were all put on notice well before this season. Ainge knew that Stevens had a tough job ahead of him balancing so many big names and expectations. Even as that fire reached its peak in February with on and off court chemistry issues, Ainge still stood by that notion when questioned during his weekly interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher & Rich”:

"“There’s blame to share for everybody, but I will say this: He’s [Stevens] the least, by far, of anybody that there is to blame.” stated Ainge in regards Stevens.“Because I know that Brad is going to be prepared, and I know that Brad is putting in the work to do whatever he can to try to help this team and fix this team. So, that is the very bottom of the rung.”"

Stevens will surely have an ample amount of questions that await him on the Appalachian Mountain of what is free agency come July 1st. Now he and the Celtics’ front office must reshuffle the bad cards they were handed and deal them again in the off-season.