Billboard near Celtics' facility urges Stevens to make history originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
There's plenty of local interest in who Brad Stevens hires as the Boston Celtics' next head coach. Just ask Brad Stevens, who will be reminded of that interest every day he drives into work.
The nutrition company Six Star Nutrition bought some digital billboard space near the Celtics' practice facility to send a message to the team's new president of basketball operations: Bring on Becky Hammon or Kara Lawson as your next head coach.
"Hey Brad, it's time to shake it up. Hire Kara or Becky!" reads the billboard, which is located along Interstate 90 less than a mile from the Auerbach Center.
The Celtics could make a big statement by hiring the NBA's first female head coach in Hammon, an assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs, or Lawson, the head coach of Duke women's basketball who worked as a Celtics assistant during the 2019-20 season.
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Hammon reportedly will interview for the Portland Trail Blazers' head coach vacancy this week and is expected to interview with the Orlando Magic as well, so the Celtics would have plenty of competition for her services. It's unclear whether Lawson will pursue an NBA head coach job after taking over at Duke less than a year ago, as the former WNBA star pleaded the fifth recently when asked about coaching speculation.
The C's have other coaching options on the table, as well: Stevens already has interviewed several internal candidates and reportedly is starting to make contact with assistant coaches Chauncey Billups, Darvin Ham and Ime Udoka, among others.
It could be an expansive search that may not finish until teams like Billups' Los Angeles Clippers are out of the NBA playoffs -- which means there's plenty of time for fans and brands alike to make their pitches to Stevens.
