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J Steven Butler Biography & Facts

Bradley Kent Stevens (born October 22, 1976) is an American basketball executive and former coach who is currently the president of basketball operations for the Boston Celtics. Born and raised in Zionsville, Indiana, Stevens starred on the Zionsville Community High School basketball team, setting four school records. After high school, he attended DePauw University, where he played basketball and earned a degree in economics. Stevens made the all-conference team multiple times and was a three-time Academic All-America nominee. He transitioned into coaching after quitting his job at Eli Lilly and Company, joining the basketball program at Butler University as a volunteer prior to the 2000–01 season. Stevens was promoted to a full-time assistant coach the following season. After five seasons in the role, he assumed the position of head coach on April 4, 2007, after Todd Lickliter left to coach the Iowa Hawkeyes. In his first year, Stevens led Butler to 30 wins, becoming the third-youngest head coach in NCAA Division I history to have a 30-win season. In 2010, his third year as head coach, Stevens broke the NCAA record for most wins in a coach's first three years, exceeding the previous record by eight wins. In the NCAA tournament, Stevens coached Butler to the first Final Four in school history, while also becoming the second-youngest head coach to make an NCAA national championship game, losing 61–59 to Duke. With the following season's team also making the Final Four, Stevens became the youngest coach to go to two Final Fours. Stevens coached the Bulldogs in their second consecutive national championship game on April 4, 2011, where the team again lost, this time to the Connecticut Huskies. Stevens was regularly named a finalist for Horizon League Coach of the Year award, winning twice, and was also a nominee for both the Hugh Durham Award and Jim Phelan Award in every year of his college career. This success garnered Stevens a job with the NBA's Boston Celtics in 2013, when Stevens signed a six-year, $22 million contract to become head coach. After undertaking a rebuild early in his career, Stevens led the Celtics to the NBA playoffs every year from 2014 to 2021, won a division championship, and appeared in the Eastern Conference finals in 2017, 2018, and 2020. He gained a reputation as one of the NBA's best coaches, with his motion offense and stingy defense earning plaudits from fans, peers, and players. In 2021, Stevens was named as the president of basketball operations of the Celtics following the retirement of Danny Ainge. In May 2024, as the Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations, Brad Stevens was named the 2023-24 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year, the first such award in his career. Early life Stevens grew up in Zionsville, Indiana, where he developed his love for basketball. Starting at age five, Stevens would watch taped basketball games "before he went to afternoon kindergarten". His father often drove him to Bloomington to watch Indiana Hoosiers games. "It's hard not to be [in love with basketball] when you're a kid growing up in Indiana", Stevens later said. For his eighth birthday, Stevens received a new basketball hoop. "It's so much fun to dream in your driveway," he later remarked. "That's where my friends and I hung out. It was a lot of fun to grow up in that era." When a friend, Brandon Monk, had a basketball court installed in his back yard, Stevens "appeared instantaneously". He was so dedicated to the game that he would bring the unprepared ingredients for grilled cheese sandwiches to Monk's house so that he would not waste time waiting for the sandwiches to cook. Monk's court soon became a gathering place, where kids from Zionsville and the surrounding areas would hold pickup games. These games helped develop Stevens's competitive streak. Besides playing basketball, the young Stevens also enjoyed solving puzzles, a skill he later applied to analyzing opposing teams to find their weaknesses. Stevens attended Zionsville Community High School, where he became a star basketball player. Stevens wore No. 31 in high school in honor of Indiana Pacers guard Reggie Miller. During his freshman year, Stevens got up early to practice shooting at a local gym before school. The hard work paid off as Stevens made the varsity team that year. By the time his high school career was complete, Stevens had set school records for career scoring, assists, steals, and three-point field goals. As of 2017, he still holds the records for career points per game average (26.8), total career points (1,508), assists (444), and steals (156), as well as the single-season points record (644 in 1995). Stevens was named to the all-conference team three times. In 1995, Stevens was the sectional MVP and the leading scorer in state sectional play (32.3 ppg). Stevens made the academic all-state first team and received the Straight A Gold Medal Award all four years. He was a member of the National Honor Society, graduating seventh in his class of 165. Stevens also earned three letters in basketball, three in track, and one in baseball during his days at Zionsville. During summers, he traveled the country playing AAU basketball. Stevens was recruited to play Division III basketball at NCAC powerhouse DePauw University, where he played in all 101 DePauw games, earning four varsity letters. Stevens earned multiple all-conference and academic all-conference awards, and was a three-time Academic All-America nominee. He was a team captain his senior year, and averaged more than eight points per game three of his four years. Stevens' career highs were 24 points and eight rebounds in a game. After his senior year, Stevens received the Coaches' Award. Coach Bill Fenlon later described Stevens as "one of the most selfless, team-oriented person [sic] I've ever been around." At DePauw, Stevens was a member of the Management Fellows Honors Program and the DePauw Community Services' Sports Night executive board. He was also a brother of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity. During summer vacations, Stevens spent time teaching at Butler basketball camps. He was named to the Dean's list and graduated in 1999 with a degree in economics. College coaching career In the summer of 2000, Stevens was offered the opportunity to volunteer in the Butler basketball office. He ran the idea of quitting his job at Eli Lilly by then-longtime girlfriend (and now wife) Tracy Wilhelmy. She thought about it for two hours before telling him to go for it. "Now, it looks like a great idea," Stevens later remarked. "At the time, I thought it was something I really wanted to try." Tracy began law school to get a J.D. degree that could support the couple if things did not work out for Stevens. "We were 23 and realized this was our chance," Tracy later said. "Five years down the road, we were probably not going to be in a position to do that. The more success you had at Lilly, the harder it would be to leave.... Discover the J Steven Butler popular books. Find the top 100 most popular J Steven Butler books.