Boston Celtics rumors: Brad Stevens chooses Cs over IU’s $70 million

At times this season, the Boston Celtics head coaching job has not seemed like the most ideal position to be in. Imagine coaching the proudest franchise in the history of the league (not one known for bandwagon hopping like the Lakers) during a pandemic where fans can’t see their team play live and you underperform.

That’s the scenario Brad Stevens was in earlier this season when the Cs were hovering underneath .500 and in danger of needing to win a postseason play-in tournament to even qualify for the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Things have corrected themselves, and Boston now sits tied for the #4 seed alongside the Atlanta Hawks with the New York Knicks breathing down their necks behind them. Even if the Cs somehow finish the season behind both teams, a potential winnable matchup against the east’s most vulnerable contender, the Milwaukee Bucks, would await.

It cannot be overstated how difficult things were even just a month ago, though. In fact, things got so bad that there were legitimate talks of Stevens leaving the only professional team he has ever worked for and re-entering the collegiate ranks in his home state.

How legitimate were the talks, you ask? Well, apparently Indiana University Bloomington was prepared to give Stevens the proverbial bag if he defected to Hoosier country (via the New York Post):

"The Big Ten program was willing to tender a seven-year contract worth $70 million to lure Brad Stevens away from the Boston Celtics, but the former Butler coach didn’t entertain Indiana’s overtures, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski."

Stevens has spoken of how content he is with his current situation, even referring to himself as a 44-year-old “Mass-hole” who swerves around traffic and roots for the New England Patriots. $70 million is a lot of money, but you can’t put a price finishing what he started with the Boston Celtics and becoming a basketball icon in one of America’s all-time legendary professional hoops havens.