Celtics coach Brad Stevens speaks on Floyd protests, players joining

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens spoke with beat writers Tuesday about the George Floyd protests and Celtics players participating in them.

Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens spoke with team beat reporters in a call Tuesday, discussing the George Floyd protests which have spread across the nation in which multiple players have participated in Boston and Atlanta, Georgia.

Stevens and the team have been supportive, the Celtics even releasing a statement Sunday evening on the matter.

Stevens believes “it’s been great” to see the level of involvement of the team’s players in the protests, reports The Athletic’s Jay King. “Obviously, what’s happened has been appalling and has been brutal and hurtful and painful. I think the NBA is amazing and our players are amazing,” he related.

The head coach wrote a letter to his players after the death of George Floyd, to let them know any decent person feels the pain of the African American community — though he was careful to note he’s aware it’s not the same pain.

Asked about the overwhelming white power structure of a league comprised of mostly players of color, Stevens believed change was needed.

“There’s no question those things have to be addressed,” he said via MassLive’s Tom Westerholm. “We have a responsibility to help drive change.”

On this issue of players participating directly in protests, Stevens was supportive; “We want them to stand for what they believe in, and we want to be supportive of that.”

Speaking to Brown’s especially vocal and engaged role in helping organize protests in Atlanta, Stevens said, “Jaylen’s greatest impact, as good as he is in basketball, won’t be in basketball. He’s a special guy, a special leader. He’s smart but he has courage. He’s got a lot of great stuff to him.”

He also had some not-especially veiled criticism on the entire situation. “The real leaders unite people and are doing things simply to promote what’s right,” opined Stevens.

The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn reports that Stevens believes he learned much regarding his player’s own experiences with racism during the Colin Kaepernick kneeling protest saga.

Then, as now, it was a good time to listen.

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