# Brad Stevens
**Brad Stevens** is an American basketball executive and former coach who is the president of basketball operations of the [Boston Celtics](https://www.edgepedia.org/boston-celtics), a role he took after eight seasons as the team's head coach and six seasons as head coach of the Butler Bulldogs.[1](https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/1/21/23558030/brad-stevens-a-coach-in-the-front-office-boston-celtics-danny-ainge-joe-mazzulla) • [2](https://butlersports.com/sports/2021/8/13/brad-stevens.aspx) As a coach he led Butler to back-to-back NCAA championship game appearances in 2010 and 2011, and as an executive he built the Celtics team that won the franchise's 18th NBA championship in 2024.[2](https://butlersports.com/sports/2021/8/13/brad-stevens.aspx) • [3](https://apnews.com/article/7e0d3d8569a115196497d3140e1b98d4)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Butler head coach record | 166-49 over six seasons (2007-08 to 2012-13), 84-22 in Horizon League play[2](https://butlersports.com/sports/2021/8/13/brad-stevens.aspx) |
| NCAA Tournament results | Five of six Butler teams reached the NCAA Tournament; national runner-up in 2010 and 2011[2](https://butlersports.com/sports/2021/8/13/brad-stevens.aspx) |
| Celtics head coach | Named the franchise's 17th head coach on July 3, 2013; career record 354-282 (.557)[4](https://www.nba.com/news/celtics-sign-brad-stevens-contract-extension) • [5](https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/stevebr99c.html) |
| Current role | President of Basketball Operations, Boston Celtics, since before the 2021-22 season[1](https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/1/21/23558030/brad-stevens-a-coach-in-the-front-office-boston-celtics-danny-ainge-joe-mazzulla) |
| Executive of the Year | 2023-24 and 2025-26 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year[6](https://www.nba.com/news/brad-stevens-nba-executive-of-year-2024) • [7](https://www.nba.com/news/brad-stevens-nba-executive-of-year-2025-26) |
| 2024 championship | Built the 64-win, league-best Celtics team that ended the franchise's 16-year title drought[8](https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar-misc-20240430-stevens-remarkable-roster-construction-earns-him-exec-of-the-year) • [3](https://apnews.com/article/7e0d3d8569a115196497d3140e1b98d4) |
| Born | Zionsville, Indiana[4](https://www.nba.com/news/celtics-sign-brad-stevens-contract-extension) |
## Early life and playing career
Stevens is a native of Zionsville, Indiana.[4](https://www.nba.com/news/celtics-sign-brad-stevens-contract-extension) As a high school player he set Zionsville career records in points (1,508), assists (491), steals (157), and three-point field goals made (138), and was a three-time all-conference pick.[9](https://hoopshall.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2020-Mens-Silver-Anniversary-Team.pdf) He played in all 103 games of a four-year career at [DePauw University](https://www.edgepedia.org/depauw-university), totaling 791 points and earning the team's Coaches Award as a senior.[9](https://hoopshall.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2020-Mens-Silver-Anniversary-Team.pdf)
## Butler University
**Path to the bench.** Stevens entered coaching in 2000 by quitting his job at Eli Lilly, a pharmaceutical company in Indiana, and volunteering in the Butler basketball office; he was promoted to an assistant coaching position the next year and joined the staff prior to the 2000-01 season.[10](https://thebutlercollegian.com/2021/04/brad-stevens-players-reflect-on-2011-national-championship-run/) • [2](https://butlersports.com/sports/2021/8/13/brad-stevens.aspx) He took over as head coach with the 2007-08 season.[2](https://butlersports.com/sports/2021/8/13/brad-stevens.aspx)
In that first season as head coach, Stevens became the third-youngest coach in college basketball history to lead his team to 30 wins.[2](https://butlersports.com/sports/2021/8/13/brad-stevens.aspx) Across six seasons he compiled a 166-49 record with four league regular-season championships, three league tournament titles, and six trips to postseason tournament play.[2](https://butlersports.com/sports/2021/8/13/brad-stevens.aspx) • [11](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sidearm.nextgen.sites/butler.sidearmsports.com/documents/2023/12/1/Butler_MBB_Record_Book_web_2023.pdf) He won two Horizon League Coach of the Year awards and the 2011 National Coach of the Year award.[9](https://hoopshall.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2020-Mens-Silver-Anniversary-Team.pdf)
**Back-to-back championship games.** Stevens is the only coach in Butler and [Horizon League](https://www.edgepedia.org/horizon-league) history to lead a team to the [NCAA Division I](https://www.edgepedia.org/ncaa-division-i) national championship game, and he did it twice, in 2010 and 2011.[12](https://butlersports.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/brad-stevens/168) The 2009-10 run, in which the fifth-seeded Bulldogs upset top-seeded Syracuse in the Sweet Sixteen, ended with [Gordon Hayward](https://www.edgepedia.org/gordon-hayward)'s half-court shot at the buzzer against Duke missing, and made Butler a nationally known program.[13](https://www.axios.com/local/indianapolis/2025/03/26/butlers-almost-cinderella-story-2010-sweet-sixtween-win-over-syracuse) • [10](https://thebutlercollegian.com/2021/04/brad-stevens-players-reflect-on-2011-national-championship-run/)
The 2010-11 season nearly missed the tournament entirely. After a February 3, 2011 loss at Youngstown State dropped the Bulldogs to 14-9, an at-large bid was out of reach, and Stevens moved starting point guard Ronald Nored to a bench role in favor of Shawn Vanzant.[10](https://thebutlercollegian.com/2021/04/brad-stevens-players-reflect-on-2011-national-championship-run/) Butler then won nine straight games, including the Horizon League championship against top-seeded [Milwaukee](https://www.edgepedia.org/milwaukee), and reached the title game as an eight-seed before falling to UConn.[10](https://thebutlercollegian.com/2021/04/brad-stevens-players-reflect-on-2011-national-championship-run/) In that championship game Butler scored 41 points, the fewest in a title game since 1949, on 18.8 percent shooting, the lowest ever in a championship game.[10](https://thebutlercollegian.com/2021/04/brad-stevens-players-reflect-on-2011-national-championship-run/)
**NCAA record book.** Stevens rewrote the NCAA records for best coaching starts by wins, capturing the five-year record (139), moving ahead of Everett Case of North Carolina State (1947-51), and holding the three-year (89) and four-year (117) records.[12](https://butlersports.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/brad-stevens/168) He also owns the top two single-season win totals in Butler and Horizon League history.[12](https://butlersports.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/brad-stevens/168)
## Boston Celtics head coach
The Celtics hired Stevens as head coach on July 3, 2013, making him the franchise's 17th head coach.[4](https://www.nba.com/news/celtics-sign-brad-stevens-contract-extension) He inherited a rebuilding roster and produced a 318-245 record (.565) in six-plus seasons, at one point the fourth-most wins by any Celtics coach behind [Red Auerbach](https://www.edgepedia.org/red-auerbach) (795), [Tom Heinsohn](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-heinsohn) (427), and [Doc Rivers](https://www.edgepedia.org/doc-rivers) (416).[4](https://www.nba.com/news/celtics-sign-brad-stevens-contract-extension) His final NBA coaching record was 354-282, a .557 winning percentage over 636 games.[5](https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/stevebr99c.html)
Under Stevens the Celtics reached back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals in 2016-17 and 2017-18, the first consecutive conference finals for the organization since the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons.[4](https://www.nba.com/news/celtics-sign-brad-stevens-contract-extension) He served as head coach of the Eastern Conference All-Star team for the 2017 [NBA All-Star Game](https://www.edgepedia.org/nba-all-star-game) in New Orleans, becoming the seventh coach in franchise history to hold that role.[4](https://www.nba.com/news/celtics-sign-brad-stevens-contract-extension)
## Celtics president of basketball operations
Stevens moved from the bench to the front office, becoming President of Basketball Operations before the 2021-22 season after eight years as head coach.[1](https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/1/21/23558030/brad-stevens-a-coach-in-the-front-office-boston-celtics-danny-ainge-joe-mazzulla)
**2024 championship.** The NBA named Stevens the 2023-24 Basketball Executive of the Year after he built Boston into a league-best 64-win team that secured the No. 1 overall seed for the 2024 playoffs.[6](https://www.nba.com/news/brad-stevens-nba-executive-of-year-2024) • [8](https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar-misc-20240430-stevens-remarkable-roster-construction-earns-him-exec-of-the-year) The Celtics went on to win the championship, the franchise's record-breaking 18th title, ending a 16-year drought; majority owner [Wyc Grousbeck](https://www.edgepedia.org/wyc-grousbeck) credited Stevens with finishing a process that began when Stevens was hired as coach in 2013.[3](https://apnews.com/article/7e0d3d8569a115196497d3140e1b98d4)
**Later years.** Boston's title defense ended in the second round of the 2025 playoffs against the [New York Knicks](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-knicks), with [Jayson Tatum](https://www.edgepedia.org/jayson-tatum) recovering from a torn Achilles.[14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9203G29Ab98) On July 6, 2026, he traded perennial All-Star Jaylen Brown, ending Brown's 10-year tenure in Boston, and said the decision was about salary cap and future flexibility.[15](https://www.nba.com/news/brad-stevens-says-jaylen-brown-trade-was-about-celtics-salary-cap-and-future-flexibility) • [18](https://www.nba.com/news/2025-offseason-trade-tracker)
**Ownership change.** In 2025 [Bill Chisholm](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-chisholm-businessman) led a group that bid $6.1 billion for the Celtics, a record price for an American professional sports franchise, and Stevens was expected to remain in his position under the new ownership.[16](https://apnews.com/article/ef45cc1c8cd15685c54af5ef4a523e58)
## Approach
Stevens has described the difference between his two roles in terms of time horizon: "When you're a coach you're on an eight-month sprint. In this job it's much more of a 12-month job."[17](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/08/10/sports/brad-stevens-celtics/) He has said that roster building is a smaller part of the executive job than he would have underestimated, and that he values keeping groups that fit together and know who they are.[17](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/08/10/sports/brad-stevens-celtics/)
## References
1. [Brad Stevens: a coach in the front office, CelticsBlog](https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/1/21/23558030/brad-stevens-a-coach-in-the-front-office-boston-celtics-danny-ainge-joe-mazzulla)
2. [Brad Stevens, Butler University Athletics](https://butlersports.com/sports/2021/8/13/brad-stevens.aspx)
3. [Celtics have short to-do list as they look to become 1st repeat NBA champion since 2018, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/7e0d3d8569a115196497d3140e1b98d4)
4. [Celtics sign Brad Stevens to contract extension, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/news/celtics-sign-brad-stevens-contract-extension)
5. [Brad Stevens: Coaching Record, Awards, Basketball-Reference.com](https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/stevebr99c.html)
6. [Celtics' Brad Stevens named NBA Basketball Executive of the Year, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/news/brad-stevens-nba-executive-of-year-2024)
7. [Celtics' Brad Stevens named NBA Basketball Executive of the Year (2025-26), NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/news/brad-stevens-nba-executive-of-year-2025-26)
8. [Stevens' Remarkable Roster Construction Earns Him Exec of the Year, Boston Celtics](https://www.nba.com/celtics/news/sidebar-misc-20240430-stevens-remarkable-roster-construction-earns-him-exec-of-the-year)
9. [Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame, 2020 Men's Silver Anniversary Team](https://hoopshall.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/2020-Mens-Silver-Anniversary-Team.pdf)
10. [Brad Stevens, players, reflect on 2011 National Championship run, The Butler Collegian](https://thebutlercollegian.com/2021/04/brad-stevens-players-reflect-on-2011-national-championship-run/)
11. [Butler Men's Basketball Record Book 2023](https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/sidearm.nextgen.sites/butler.sidearmsports.com/documents/2023/12/1/Butler_MBB_Record_Book_web_2023.pdf)
12. [Brad Stevens - Head Coach, Butler University Athletics](https://butlersports.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/brad-stevens/168)
13. [Old news: Butler's (almost) cinderella story, Axios Indianapolis](https://www.axios.com/local/indianapolis/2025/03/26/butlers-almost-cinderella-story-2010-sweet-sixtween-win-over-syracuse)
14. [PRESS CONFERENCE: Brad Stevens talks about offseason plan for Celtics, NBC Sports Boston](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9203G29Ab98)
15. [Brad Stevens says Jaylen Brown trade was about Celtics' salary cap and future flexibility, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/news/brad-stevens-says-jaylen-brown-trade-was-about-celtics-salary-cap-and-future-flexibility)
16. [The Boston Celtics have a new owner, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/ef45cc1c8cd15685c54af5ef4a523e58)
17. [One-on-one with the Celtics' Brad Stevens in Paris, The Boston Globe](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/08/10/sports/brad-stevens-celtics/)
18. [2025 NBA Offseason Trade Tracker, NBA.com](https://www.nba.com/news/2025-offseason-trade-tracker)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Basketball and court team sports › Basketball players and coaches (biographies) › NBA head coaches*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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