Brad Stevens was burnt out as coach before last season.

[nickagneta]

So at work today, I got the pleasure of meeting and talking to the wife of Depauw University men's basketball coach, Bill Fenlon. Fenlon was the head coach of one Brad Stevens when Stevens was playing ball in college.

I mentioned I was from Boston and she asked if I knew who her husband coached. I didn't. She said Brad and said they have been close ever since Brad finished college and went into coaching. She said they talk all the time.

I told her I was shocked he left coaching to become team president but she said she wasn't. She said the bubble burnt Brad out. She said he returned last year but his heart wasn't in it because of his awful experience coaching the team for all those weeks in the bubble.

Had a good long talk with her. Very nice, very classy lady who was in town to see her parents.

Anyway, thought that was interesting news. Hope you enjoyed the story.

[Donoghus]

It showed to an extent.  It also certainly looked like he was starting to get tuned out.

[gift]

You're doing it wrong. You're supposed to claim she gave you inside info on who the Celtics will target at the trade deadline. 

[Celtics2021]

It showed to an extent.  It also certainly looked like he was starting to get tuned out.

I doubt Brad was the only member of the Celtics who got mentally burned out by the bubble.  But it was worse for coaches, as their families weren't allowed in until later on in the bubble, and ultimately the Stevens family decided to stay home.  Had to be tough for him on a personal level.

[Moranis]

I thought that was out there already, maybe not beginning of year, but by all star break, the C's started planning this because Brad was done.

[Donoghus]

It showed to an extent.  It also certainly looked like he was starting to get tuned out.

I doubt Brad was the only member of the Celtics who got mentally burned out by the bubble.  But it was worse for coaches, as their families weren't allowed in until later on in the bubble, and ultimately the Stevens family decided to stay home.  Had to be tough for him on a personal level.

Absolutely.

[RMO]

Can't remember where I heard it (I think a podcast on the ringer) but apparently he had to miss a lot of his kids' sporting events and school activities and just the whole thing about being away from his family for that amount of time really got to him.

Obviously there's travel in the professional sports but the extended time away from his kids due to the bubble was said to have really affected him.

[nickagneta]

I don't think people out of the sports industry realize just how much time and energy people in the business work. I have two friends in college athletics. They never stop working. There is no vacation. There is no day offs. When I see my buddies they always have their laptop and no matter where we go, those laptops open up and they are working. 70-80 hour work weeks 52 weeks a year is normal.

You hear stories about film guys and coaches sleeping in their offices going over stuff all day and night. These aren't just glorifications to make these people look tough and committed. It's real. I have seen it firsthand for decades.

For those guys with kids, especially young kids, it's a major sacrifice. Brad seems like a committed family man. All that time in the bubble, constantly working. Constantly having to get tested. Constantly having to make sure his team was adhering to Covid protocols. And then having to do all that while a social reckoning was happening across America and affecting his players deeply.

I can completely understand him getting burnt out and not wanting to return. It would not surprise me if they told him he would be team president if he coached one more year as, it was pretty obvious Danny's time was drawing to a close.

We as fans most likely don't have the full story but I thought this tidbit interesting, especially as it came from someone close to Brad on a personal level.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

The sad part to me is that Brad Stevens genuinely enjoys basketball and enjoys developing young men into leaders.

I credit him for staying after it. Even after he appeared to lose the lockeroom, he still coached and tried hard.

[RPGenerate]

The sad part to me is that Brad Stevens genuinely enjoys basketball and enjoys developing young men into leaders.

I credit him for staying after it. Even after he appeared to lose the lockeroom, he still coached and tried hard.

At least he's still pretty young. If he ever wants to get back into the coaching game, he'll have jobs waiting for him.

[footey]

TP Nick, love this story. Seems to confirm reports. 

[gift]

I don't think people out of the sports industry realize just how much time and energy people in the business work. I have two friends in college athletics. They never stop working. There is no vacation. There is no day offs. When I see my buddies they always have their laptop and no matter where we go, those laptops open up and they are working. 70-80 hour work weeks 52 weeks a year is normal.

You hear stories about film guys and coaches sleeping in their offices going over stuff all day and night. These aren't just glorifications to make these people look tough and committed. It's real. I have seen it firsthand for decades.

For those guys with kids, especially young kids, it's a major sacrifice. Brad seems like a committed family man. All that time in the bubble, constantly working. Constantly having to get tested. Constantly having to make sure his team was adhering to Covid protocols. And then having to do all that while a social reckoning was happening across America and affecting his players deeply.

I can completely understand him getting burnt out and not wanting to return. It would not surprise me if they told him he would be team president if he coached one more year as, it was pretty obvious Danny's time was drawing to a close.

We as fans most likely don't have the full story but I thought this tidbit interesting, especially as it came from someone close to Brad on a personal level.

Reminds me of the Tom Thibodeau stories:

    They connect with him on most days, even if they rarely see him, at least in person. His family understood when, over the years, he missed weddings, funerals, baptisms and birthday parties. He came home in late November during the N.B.A. lockout and took part in a family holiday for the first time in 20 years.

    Even then, he spent one afternoon teaching his nephew the proper defensive stance.

    Thibodeau was engaged once. He was in graduate school, an assistant at his alma mater, Salem State. Her name was Debbie, one of two Debbies that college teammates said he dated simultaneously, D1 and D2 at first for short.

    They canceled the wedding about six weeks out, and Thibodeau’s mother made him return what gifts the couple had received. Reasons for the engagement’s end varied, but John Galaris, Thibodeau’s boss and the athletic director at Salem State, said Thibodeau told him, “There’s no room in my life for a woman if I’m going to be a basketball coach.”

[SHAQATTACK]

I suspected the covid bubble and general business pressure to win was getting to him . I think t wore badly on Ainge as well …..a sinking ship and they were tired of bailing.

The injury thing , Kyrie flipping out , especially with Hayward and then Kemba , two guys he counted on did not pan out ,  must have been super deflating.  It was for me as a fan .  He couldn’t get any momentum with the team .  When your stars are barely playing .

[tenn_smoothie]

The sad part to me is that Brad Stevens genuinely enjoys basketball and enjoys developing young men into leaders.

I credit him for staying after it. Even after he appeared to lose the lockeroom, he still coached and tried hard.

At least he's still pretty young. If he ever wants to get back into the coaching game, he'll have jobs waiting for him.

Can't help but remember among all these empathetic comments how angry we would get at Brad Stevens at times.
I was as harsh as anyone.

If he ever has that desire to get back into coaching, it looks to me like he might be happiest in college.
I'd love to see him revive Indiana Hoosiers basketball one day and put up a couple of red banners of his own.

[trickybilly]

Coach Werner Ziegler