Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens held a teleconference with reporters Friday, and revealed a number of things about what the team has been up t during the coronavirus shutdown.
Stevens related that guard Marcus Smart — the sole player om the roster to test positive for the virus after the March 11 suspension of league activities — has been feeling well, and that he’s been checking in with the Oklahoma State product on a regular basis.
The Celtics coach is especially proud of how Smart has embraced physical distancing and that he’s taken the extra step of encouraging others to do it as well via social media.
Players have had stationary bikes available to help maintain conditioning, and weights have been delivered to players so they can continue to train in their homes, a point made by team president Danny Ainge in a recent phone interview with the Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett.
Brad Stevens said he’s gone for walks, but hasn’t been in his car other to move it into a new spot in 16 days.
“My thoughts are with everybody who’s really facing this thing. You just feel so bad.”
He set up a PowerPoint for his kids about the coronavirus and its impact.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) March 27, 2020
The team has been holding multiple teleconferences per week to check in on each other, and to discuss non-basketball related concerns and issues, related Stevens.
The coach has been keeping busy himself, going for walks when possible, and hasn’t used his car except to move it for more than two weeks now.
Stevens has also set up a powerpoint for his children to help educate them about the impact of the viral pandemic, but doesn’t at all mind the increased contact with them being stuck at home — in fact, quite the opposite.
“I love being around them,” Stevens offered, noting it was he who was likely driving them crazy.
The former Butler coach has actively been avoiding the topic of basketball with players, as he doesn’t feel it appropriate given all that is happening around them right now. “My thoughts are with everybody who’s really facing this thing. You just feel so bad,” he added.
He is preparing for a resumption of league activities, but so far has mostly focused on doing postseason analyses of each player that will be useful when — or perhaps if — the season resumes.
Brad Stevens laughed that he’s driving his kids crazy while being around them all day. He has a different view.
“I love being around them.”
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) March 27, 2020
Someone asked him if he could perhaps use his coaches challenge while on break, to which he acerbically replied that it would probably be unsuccessful if he did.
While Stevens may not have had much luck with the new wrinkle afforded coaches in the 2019-20 NBA season, with a little luck, he’ll get to try his hand at a few more.
But as with so much right now, until that becomes a legitimate possibility, the Celtics and the world must wait and hope for things to go our way in a much, much bigger kind of challenge.
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