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Brad Stevens: The Key To Unlocking Potential

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Brad Stevens (@BCCoachStevens), is the President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics (@Celtics) and a PCA National Advisory Board Member. Stevens was the Head Coach of the Celtics until 2021. Stevens is most famous for his calm coaching style and demeanor on the sidelines. He is known for getting the most out of his players and has now led the Celtics to multiple Eastern Conference Finals appearances. Before joining the Celtics, Stevens rose to prominence as coach of the Butler University basketball team that he led to consecutive NCAA title game appearances.

As Stevens shares in the video above, "Everybody is in the NBA for a reason, they have a special talent, a special ability, sometimes people get put in a box of what they can’t do instead of focusing on what they can do, rather than what they cannot do. Our jobs are to take the 15 guys on the team and help them soar with what they do best."

This insight from Stevens is a valuable one for any youth and high school coach in any sport. Rather than put your players in a negative "limiting" box, Stevens looks for what makes his players great. To some, the Boston Celtics might be the surprise of the NBA- they lost two of their most talented players to injury earlier in the season. However, Stevens' search for what makes his players great helps his players succeed more than anyone, even sometimes the players themselves, thought was possible. Stevens' unlocks potential by identifying the positives in all his players.

Back in November 2017, Brad Stevens and Steve Kerr took the unusual step of taking time out of their game day preparations to get together to support Positive Coaching Alliance. You can see the recap of that event, here.