Turns out, the golfing bug is more firmly entrenched in the Boston Celtics and Disney NBA campus more generally than may have been thought.
Speaking at Thursday’s media availability, Celtics head coach Brad Stevens shared that not only is he among the franchise’s fans of the popular sport, but he’s even hit the links himself with another of the coaches currently sharing the Wide World of Sports complex with Boston.
Team President Danny Ainge would be proud, having played golf with Michael Jordan in the midst of the first-round postseason series with the Chicago Bulls in the 1986 NBA Playoffs.
“Frank [Vogel] and I have been good friends for a long time, and we actually golf,” said Stevens.
“One of my one of the assistants on my staff and Frank and Jason Kidd, maybe the first week we were here, before most of us had put our sticks away now. It’s been great to see him; he’s had a great year, done a remarkable job, and he’s a great guy.”
“I’m happy for him,” added the Celtics coach.
“It’s probably over for him at this point,” someone off-camera replied of Vogel, cryptically.
His golf game, that is — not the Pacers’ title odds, though truth be told that’s probably also not terribly far off, even with Victor Oladipo’s return.
“I haven’t golfed for at least a week now; I think it’s going to be much harder to find time to get out there,” explained the Indiana native quickly, as if to clarify where exactly Vogel — and he — might be ‘done’.
“But I do think maybe we can sneak out there.”
“Late at night before the sun goes down, just for a brief getaway because I do think, no matter what, just like when you’re going through the end of the regular season in the playoffs, you need to find something to do, and get your mind off of what’s consuming it for between everyday.”
That last bit — getting one’s mind off of basketball in the heat of the battle — might help explain the game’s popularity among elite competitors in the sport.
Ainge and Michael Jordan of course, but many other Celtics over the years have dabbled in golf, most recently All-Star forward Jayson Tatum and several other teammates.
In that context, a sport that is about as far from basketball as one can get while still having a ball go through a ‘hoop’ makes a lot of sense.
It uses similar faculties, requires intense focus not on another sport — and at least for the likes of some of its fans — can still be intensely competitive.
The smart money’s on Stevens hitting the links again — maybe even before the playoffs.
