Getty Kevin Garnett and Sam Cassell of the Boston Celtics celebrate during the Boston Celtics Victory Parade on June 19, 2008.
The Boston Celtics may have a laundry list of potential candidates to fill their head coaching vacancy. However, according to ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins, his former employers don’t have a difficult task on their hands when it comes to identifying the right man for the job.
“Brad Stevens, if you wanna make your next move your best move, you need to go hire Sam Cassell,” Perkins said on Twitter. “He won the championship in Boston as a player. He’s a two-time champion as a [Houston] Rocket. He’s been a longtime assistant. He’s coached superstars. He’s played with superstars.”
“You have two young superstars over there in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Egos are going to start getting in the way,” he continued. “You need someone in that locker room that these players are going to respect, that they’re going to look up to, that they’re going to soak in knowledge [from] and a guy that is going to hold them accountable. To me, it’s a clear-cut favorite that Sam Cassell should be the coach.”
Perkins later continued his endorsement campaign on ESPN’s KJZ, claiming “I think Sam Cassell is the best fit for this job and I think he would be the perfect hire.”
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Cassell’s Championship Pedigree
Cassell, who played 15 seasons in the NBA, won a championship alongside Perkins in 2008 — far from his lone title experience. The Maryland native entered the league in 1993 as the No. 24 overall selection of the Houston Rockets, where he went on to capture back-to-back titles during his first two years in the league.
Cassell got his feet wet in the coaching ranks during the 2008-09 season, where he took on an unofficial assistant role under then-Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. Since then, the former All-Star has spent 13 seasons serving as an assistant for the Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Clippers, and currently, the Philadelphia 76ers.
Cedric Maxwell Weighs In on Celtics Coaching Search
Perkins isn’t the only ex-Celtic to give his two cents on the coaching search currently being conducted in Boston. Like Perkins, the former finals MVP holds championship experience and leadership qualities in high regard when it comes to determining who should take over the reins for Brad Stevens on the sidelines. Unlike Perkins, those traits have Maxwell floating a different former Celtic for the job.
“And I like this about Chauncey, the fact that he was with the Celtics initially, then he was kind of cast around,” Maxwell said, via The Athletic. “So he was a guy who has seen the top and seen the bottom. That to me is even more important. So I think he could relate to younger players who are struggling, but he also can relate to a player like Jayson Tatum who is playing really well.”
Maxwell went on to share his thoughts on Stevens’ decision to move upstairs into a front-office role after serving eight years as the team’s head coach.
“I don’t think anything was missing with Brad,” Maxwell said. “I just think now everybody thinks it’s time for another voice. A voice gets tired after a while, so a new direction, a new following. And I happen to like the fact that Brad is being the head of basketball operations because who would know better about the weaknesses and the strengths of this team than the guy who’s seen this team almost every day. So he knows better than anybody what this team needs.”
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Celtics Champ Dubbed ‘Clear-Cut Favorite’ for Head Coach Vacancy