The Boston Celtics are going to go through a big transition in the next couple of months. Danny Ainge stepped down from his role and Brad Stevens will be in charge of basketball operations, thus leaving a big head coach vacancy.
Needless to say, multiple candidates would love to have the chance to coach the Celtics and Jayson Tatum, so it’s likely that they’ll take some time to explore their options.
Then again, Yahoo! Sports’ Chris Haynes recently reported that Jason Kidd and Lloyd Pierce headline the shortlist as of now:
“Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Jason Kidd and former Atlanta Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce are expected to be head-coaching candidates for the Boston Celtics, league sources tell @YahooSports,” Haynes reported.
Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach Jason Kidd and former Atlanta Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce are expected to be head-coaching candidates for the Boston Celtics, league sources tell @YahooSports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) June 2, 2021
Kidd was reportedly pretty close to becoming the Los Angeles Lakers head coach before Frank Vogel took over but his controversies outside of sports likely hurt his chances.
In fact, some people speculated that he was there in case Frank Vogel did wrong, so he could step up as an interim coach after being one of his assistants.
Kidd has a 183-190 record as a coach from his stints with the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks but he’s a heavily respected figure around NBA locker rooms.
As for Pierce, the Atlanta Hawks were clearly a better team since he took over, so it’s not a surprise to see the Celtics – and other teams – interested in his services.
