2. Brad Stevens, Boston Celtics
You can’t say enough great things when you talk about Brad Stevens. The way he carries himself, the way his players respond to him, and the type of guys he coaches is a direct correlation to how he wants to be viewed. He’s a class act, great guy who competes his ass off.
Each year as Boston’s head coach Brad has improved. His first year he started off with a booming 25 wins but that climbed to 40, then 48, followed by the best team in the Eastern Conference last year at 53 wins. Stevens has found his grove as an NBA head coach and he has more than earned his sot here as second best.
At only 40 years old, Stevens has made his living on player developement, in-game coaching adjustments, and forming relationships that players truly cherish. This didn’t just start in Boston, this goes back all the way to Butler and probably even prior to that. This kind of relationship building allowed Stevens to land his former college star Gordon Hayward this offseason in free agency. 2018 could be the start of Brad Stevens realistically competing for the Larry O’Brein trophy.