The situation in Washington should encourage Celtics faithful to cherish Stevens, who appears to have the locker room under his guidance. Even when the Celtics don’t play well, they play hard, and that has been the case since Stevens inherited the patchwork roster from the post-Garnett-Pierce team in 2013. And when he senses they aren’t playing with the passion that is required to be successful, he expresses his anger in a way that pierces his players.
If Stevens was a perpetual screamer, his words wouldn’t have the same effect. But when he does scream, the players react.