How about a relaxed and happy brat?
“More smiles,” Ainge said, “some jokes he doesn’t usually tell, which is great.”
▪ Stevens hasn’t been in the spotlight all season. His predecessor, Danny Ainge, sat on the court bench and barked at officials. Stevens watches from a unique box. As the on-court celebration unfolded, it was no surprise that Stevens walked away from the tunnel leading to the locker room.
He beamed when his close friend and former Celtics assistant Micah Shrewsberry, who now coaches at Notre Dame, walked by.
“Now that was sweet,” Stevens told Shrewsberry.
▪ There are reports that Celtics senior advisor Jeff Van Gundy may replace associate head coach Charles Lee, who has been hired as the Hornets coach. But according to a league source, both sides agreed it would be best to accept the offer to replace Van Gundy as the Clippers’ top assistant.
The source said the Celtics were somewhat concerned about the possibility of Van Gundy jumping members of the coaching staff who had been instrumental during this championship season, and Van Gundy agreed. But the consensus is that Van Gundy has been an invaluable sounding board for the young staff this season.
Look for the Celtics to fill Lee’s spot by promoting from within.
▪ Vice president of basketball operations Mike Jarren crossed paths with coach Joe Mazzulla after the final buzzer, and Mazzulla’s message was predictably brief and direct.
“He said it takes math and effort,” Jaren said.
▪ It’s unclear whether Talano Panton and Lamar Stevens, who were traded by the Celtics in February, will get championship rings. Teams must obtain approval from the NBA before awarding rings to non-roster players. It’s hard to imagine the league would turn down a request, and the Celtics appreciated both players’ contributions in their short time.
The Celtics built three tiered rings after winning the 2008 title. Players, coaches and members of the front office received rings from the most diamond-encrusted stack. All other full-time employees received second-tier rings, and part-time game-night employees were part of the third tier.
▪ There was some suggestion last year that Mazzulla would have been fired had the Celtics been swept by the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. Celtics executives pushed back against that notion, and co-owner Steve Pagliuca insisted the franchise’s commitment to Mazzulla never waned.
“We were always behind Joe 110 percent,” Bagliuga said. “We never had a question about him being a coach. Our whole philosophy here is to stick with the big guys and look at the facts, the fact is he did a great job last year and he’s going to be good. Now you are seeing the results. “
▪ Yes, the Celtics held a six-player draft workout at the Auerbach Center on Tuesday, about 12 hours after winning the championship. Some members of the office were running around without sleep.
The Celtics also held a draft workout the day after winning the 2008 title, and it didn’t go well. In this session, New Mexico forward JR. That includes Giddens, who impressed the team with his athleticism and was eventually selected by the Celtics with the 30th overall pick. Giddens scored just 28 points in 1½ seasons with the Celtics.
Brass unwisely held the 2008 workout at 10 a.m. after dinner. This year’s session took place about four hours later.
▪ Speaking of the draft, it will be extended to a two-day event this year, with the first round next Wednesday and the second next Thursday. Jaren was among a group of executives from about 10 teams who brought the idea to the league office in 2013, but it didn’t gain traction until now.
Jaron thinks the change is beneficial.
“The second round is critical for teams to have two minutes to make decisions about whether to trade or who to pick,” he said. “You often call for a team to trade up in the second round and they no longer have a pick, and by the time you find out who has it, it’s too late.”
This year there will be four minutes between second round selections.
▪ After Monday’s win, NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown’s thoughts were with his grandmother, Dianne Varnado, who died last year.
“I woke up from my premature nap and I had a dream and my grandmother was in the dream and hugged me this afternoon,” Brown said. “I know everything is going to be okay. But I wish she was here. But she’s very important and important in my life. And that’s awesome. I know she’d be proud of me.
▪ The locker room celebration started to die down after 1 a.m., but 20-year-old Jordan Walsh couldn’t resist the chance to pour a bottle of Michelob over Jayson Tatum’s head. Most players never win an NBA title, and Walsh is a champion less than a year out of the second round.
▪ The Hornets included former Celtics forward Grant Williams, center Mark Williams and rookie sensation Brandon Miller in Group 5, of course as guests of Lee, who will now be their coach. Still, it was a little weird to see all three of them in the Celtics’ locker room amid the revelry.
▪ What were Brown’s thoughts on Payton Pritchard, who drilled a half-court buzzer-beater to end the second quarter of Game 5?
“That dude,” Brown said. “He is a [expletive] Legend, man.”
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @AdamHimmelsbach.
