Holiday has special message for Stevens after Celtics win championship originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has made many tremendous roster changes over the past few years to surround Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown with a supporting cast that could lead the team to championship status.
And the change that probably had the biggest impact was negotiating for Jrue Holiday.
Holiday became available after he was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of the trade that sent Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks last September. A few days later, the Celtics acquired Holiday from the Blazers in exchange for Robert Williams III, Malcolm Brogdon and two first-round picks.
Holiday brought championship experience – he was the only player on the roster with a ring – scoring depth and fantastic perimeter defense. He made so many clutch plays during the 2024 playoffs, including the Decisive Game 5 in the 2024 NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks when he scored 15 points, 11 rebounds and four assists.
Stevens stopped by NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics pregame live on Monday night to talk with Brian Scalabrine and Eddie House. Holiday joined and had a special message for the Celtics executive.
“Thanks, man,” Holiday said to Stevens, as seen around the 2:10 mark in the video player above. “Thank you for bringing me here and being a part of this. There’s no better feeling than that.”
Holiday made history in Game 5 by becoming the first player in league history win a championship in your first season with two different franchises (minimum 30 minutes per game in the playoffs).
The Celtics’ next challenge will be to try to repeat as champions, which no team has done since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. But luckily for the Celtics, they will have Holiday back in the fold next season. He signed a four-year contract extension with the team in April.
