Early days
Brett Brown and Brad Stevens both played collegiate basketball. They were guards at their schools. Stevens, however, did not have the opportunity to play at Boston University under legendary coach Rick Pitino. Instead, Stevens played Division III hoops at DePauw University, a small private college in Indiana.
Right off the bat, Brown had a leg up. After their playing days were past them, Stevens coached in the NCAA and Brown in the Australian league. They both achieved success at their respective levels, Brown winning a championship with the North Melbourne Giants, and Stevens earning multiple trips to the NCAA tournament, just coming up short in two championship games.
In 2013, Brown and Stevens started coaching in the NBA at the same time. They were ushering in a new age of basketball in cities where management gave them scraps to work with on their roster. So, their coaching adaptability came into play right away.
Coming in after the Celtics’ Big Three had moved on, Stevens was expected to make due with a roster of Jeff Green, Rajon Rondo, Jordan Crawford, Avery Bradley, and Brandon Bass. After the Allen Iverson era, when Sam Hinkie took over, Brown was dealt a similar hand. He had Evan Turner, Thaddeus Young, Spencer Hawes, Tony Wroten, and Michael Carter-Williams.
Somehow, they had to rebuild with next to nothing. That year, Brown won 19 games, and Stevens won 25 games. The difference the following year is that Stevens led his team to a 40-win season, while Brown won 18. Were the rosters that different? Or was Stevens more effective at developing hidden talent?
When it comes to player development, this is when the real separation between Brown and Stevens’ coaching ability stands out.
Who should we start with? Look no further than Isaiah Thomas. Stevens was able to take a 5-foot-9 point guard and make him, essentially, into a star. The last pick in the 2011 draft became the leading scorer for Stevens’ team. How was it possible? The answer is obvious. Stevens was able to develop a system to maximize Thomas’s effectiveness. Looking further into development, Stevens was able to develop other players like Jae Crowder, Avery Bradley, and Marcus Smart. Then, you cannot forget about Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, who have only shown a glimpse of their potential. On the contrary, Brown has not had as much success.
Brown was gifted high draft pick after high draft pick because of Sam Hinkie. Granted, some of those players were injured and missed many games at the start of their careers, but Brown still had other projects. You can argue that he developed T.J. McConnell and Robert Covington, but are they as far along as any of the previously mentioned Celtic players that Stevens developed? The Jahlil Okafor debacle did not help grow Brown’s development tree, while he struggled to get his No. 1 draft pick point guard to effectively shoot a jump shot. I know you’re wondering, which one? Fultz or Simmons? Take your pick.