The Celtics use a sleep doctor to maximize rest

Year's ago it was revealed that Danny Ainge consulted with a so-called "brain doctor." That raised a few eyebrows and caused a few snickers among Celtics fans. As it turns out, the most accurate description for what Jonathan Niednagel does is Brain Typing. The study of brain types is pretty neat stuff when you take the time to look into it. Obviously you can't make a decision about a player only using their brain type, but it is another piece of the puzzle and another data point to use for evaluating players. If anything, it seems like Ainge was a little ahead of the curve on that stuff.

So with that as the backdrop, I'm on board with the fact that since 2009 the Celtics consult with a "sleep doctor" named Dr. Charles Czeisler. He's "the chief of the division of sleep medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and director of sleep medicine at Harvard Medical School." (via the Globe)

Celtics hope to get more W’s by catching more Z’s

With Czeisler’s instruction, the Celtics focused on creating larger windows for sleep by adjusting practice times and when they’d arrive or depart certain cities. For example, if the team doesn’t play in back-to-back games that force it to fly that night, he suggests it stay in town and leave the following morning. Forward Brandon Bass joined the Celtics in 2011 and said they focused on sleep more than any of his previous three teams (New Orleans, Dallas, Orlando). He added that it’s helped change his view of sleep. "It’s very important," he said. "It’s going to wear on you, eventually."

Obviously the Celtics needed to maximize rest for their veterans, and not just by managing minutes on the court. But as it turns out, Brad Stevens has used a similar sleep doctor during his time at Butler and is a believer in it.

Whatever edge they can get, the Celtics will use. Even if it is getting a good snooze.