Last season, Jaylen Brown walked out to his car after a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to discover that his vehicle had been filled to the brim with popcorn. The prank would not have been out of place in another era or even another NBA city, but there was no room for it on Brad Stevens’s Boston Celtics.
Stevens doesn’t allow rookie hazing. He wants the Celtics’ collection of young players to feel empowered, and the philosophy has paid off as Brown and Jayson Tatum power Boston ever deeper into the playoffs.
“I want everybody here to feel like they have ownership, can put their finger on things, and have a voice,” Stevens said.