Ronald Nored has known Brad Stevens for about 11 years. You know, since he was 17.
The Long Island Nets’ head coach even lived in Stevens’ basement while an assistant with the Boston Celtics in 2014-15, a couple of years after being a four-year starter for Stevens’ Butler University Bulldogs. From those first meetings when Nored was a high school point guard from Alabama, the two have moved from that special coach-to-point guard connection to a brotherly bond between coaches.
“When I watch TV I still pinch myself from time to time, like man, I got to be coached by that guy,” Nored told NetsDaily on Wednesday just before the Celtics blew out the Cleveland Cavaliers in game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.