>**Stevens revealed the Celtics were interested in bringing back Griffin for a second year, but the former All-Star is considering retirement.**
>“I’m not blowing smoke, it was as good as it gets,” Stevens said. “He was unbelievable when he played and even better when he didn’t. He has a fan for life from everybody in our organization. **You know, if he decides to keep playing, he wants to come back out East, he knows we’re a phone call away.”**
>“He’s not an old guy, but he’s not a rookie anymore,” Stevens said. “He’s six years in now and this is the time where guys make leaps and make jumps. He showed his defensive versatility a couple of years ago. His offensive threat at the rim and his rebounding is as good as it gets, and **the keys for him are to be available as much as possible and to be able play as long as spurts as possible.**
>“We’re lucky with Kristaps [Porzingis], with Al [Horford], with Luke [Kornet], we’re lucky to have a group that can all play when he’s not available, but we’re a different team when he is. You can see that.”
>**“They’re hard, but you just have real conversations,” Stevens said. “Some stuff has been talked about with the Brogdon stuff, you just have conversations about it. You understand why a person would feel angry about that. But at the same time, that’s why you have those conversations. You work together. Obviously, in almost all scenarios, you’re talking about unbelievable players on all sides. That’s the other part of the recognition being discussed.**
>**“Again, a lot of the stuff that you read, we’re making calls all year. The other 29 teams know who we like on their team because we tell them. And we know who they like on our team because they tell us. Does that become a rumor? You have to have an idea who you’d like to target and who’s attainable and who’s not.”**
>“First of all, it’s hard to discern leadership from afar,” Stevens said. “I think Marcus is a good leader and we have a lot of other good leaders in that locker room, too. Everybody does it through their own personality and their own way. **We talked about it several times three, four, five years ago, is one of the keys to our whole program will be when Jaylen and Jayson get to 25, 26 and 27, being two of the best leaders in the league, and they’re there. I think they will without question [lead] and they were already. And Al knows buttons to push, and when he speaks it’s worth listening to.**
>“We have a number of guys in there. Derrick White I think is a person we want to see continue to rise and grow. He certainly can take over some of that. **But the key is will everybody embrace their role? Will everybody do so in their own authentic self and bring it to the table so we can be the best team we can be?”**
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Notable Excerpts:
>**Stevens revealed the Celtics were interested in bringing back Griffin for a second year, but the former All-Star is considering retirement.**
>“I’m not blowing smoke, it was as good as it gets,” Stevens said. “He was unbelievable when he played and even better when he didn’t. He has a fan for life from everybody in our organization. **You know, if he decides to keep playing, he wants to come back out East, he knows we’re a phone call away.”**
>“He’s not an old guy, but he’s not a rookie anymore,” Stevens said. “He’s six years in now and this is the time where guys make leaps and make jumps. He showed his defensive versatility a couple of years ago. His offensive threat at the rim and his rebounding is as good as it gets, and **the keys for him are to be available as much as possible and to be able play as long as spurts as possible.**
>“We’re lucky with Kristaps [Porzingis], with Al [Horford], with Luke [Kornet], we’re lucky to have a group that can all play when he’s not available, but we’re a different team when he is. You can see that.”
>**“They’re hard, but you just have real conversations,” Stevens said. “Some stuff has been talked about with the Brogdon stuff, you just have conversations about it. You understand why a person would feel angry about that. But at the same time, that’s why you have those conversations. You work together. Obviously, in almost all scenarios, you’re talking about unbelievable players on all sides. That’s the other part of the recognition being discussed.**
>**“Again, a lot of the stuff that you read, we’re making calls all year. The other 29 teams know who we like on their team because we tell them. And we know who they like on our team because they tell us. Does that become a rumor? You have to have an idea who you’d like to target and who’s attainable and who’s not.”**
>“First of all, it’s hard to discern leadership from afar,” Stevens said. “I think Marcus is a good leader and we have a lot of other good leaders in that locker room, too. Everybody does it through their own personality and their own way. **We talked about it several times three, four, five years ago, is one of the keys to our whole program will be when Jaylen and Jayson get to 25, 26 and 27, being two of the best leaders in the league, and they’re there. I think they will without question [lead] and they were already. And Al knows buttons to push, and when he speaks it’s worth listening to.**
>“We have a number of guys in there. Derrick White I think is a person we want to see continue to rise and grow. He certainly can take over some of that. **But the key is will everybody embrace their role? Will everybody do so in their own authentic self and bring it to the table so we can be the best team we can be?”**
great share friend thank you !