Just a week ago, news broke that Celtics coach Brad Stevens would replace Danny Ainge as the team’s president of basketball operations, and he wasted no time beginning the search to find his successor on the sideline.
Stevens has reportedly already interviewed his assistant coaches and is expanding the search outside of the franchise. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, he has received permission to interview multiple head coaching candidates, including assistants Chauncey Billups (Clippers), Darvin Ham and Charles Lee (Bucks), Jamahl Mosley (Mavericks) and Ime Udoka (Nets).
Wojnarowski added that the initial candidate pool is expected to be expansive. This will be Boston’s third head coach since 2004, following Stevens and Doc Rivers.
Following the initial announcement of Ainge’s departure, Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes reported that Lakers assistant Jason Kidd and former Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce were among the lead candidates in Boston’s coaching search.
Billups, a former Finals MVP and current Clippers assistant coach, was also rumored to be in the mix by Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports. He was drafted by the Celtics as the third overall pick in 1997, but Billups played just 51 games for the franchise before Rick Pitino traded him to Toronto.
Stevens has been Boston’s head coach since 2013, tallying seven straight playoff appearances with the franchise. It was a tumultuous 2020–21 season for the Celtics after a conference finals berth last year, as they finished 36–36 before losing to the Nets in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
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