Brad Stevens named NBA Executive of the Year in overwhelming vote originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
It took Brad Stevens less than three years to become the best executive in basketball.
The President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics was named 2023-24 NBA Executive of the Year, the league announced on Tuesday. Stevens was the big winner of the award, receiving more than double the votes of the next closest executive, Oklahoma City Thunder general manager Sam Presti.
Stevens was a clear pick for Executive of the Year. He made several bold moves last offseason – notably acquiring Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday via trade while shipping out Marcus Smart, Robert Williams, Grant Williams and Malcolm Brogdon – that paid big dividendshelping the Celtics achieve their fourth-best season in franchise history (64-18) and the No. 1 overall seed in the NBA entering the playoffs.
Stevens made a surprising transition from head coach to executive in June 2021 and has since helped transform the C’s into a perennial playoff contender. His acquisitions of Al Horford and Derrick White were a tremendous success, and he also handed out contract extensions to several key players – Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Payton Pritchard, with deals for Jayson Tatum and White potentially coming this summer – to keep Boston’s talented roster intact.
Simply put, Stevens prepared the Celtics tremendously to end the team’s 16-year championship drought. Now it’s on the list to deliver.
Boston currently holds a 3-1 first-round lead over the Miami Heat, with Game 5 set for Wednesday at TD Garden. NBC Sports Boston coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. ET with Celtics pregame live, with Mike Gorman and Brian Scalabrine on the call at 7:30 pm ET.
