Brad Stevens would gladly accept call to coach Team USA

After next summer's Olympics, Mike Krzyzewski is going to retire as head coach of Team USA.  That opening could be filled by our own Brad Stevens.

Celtics notebook: Brad Stevens ready for civic duty | Boston Herald

The Celtics coach, once and maybe still considered Krzyzewski’s heir at Duke, also is believed by some to be the natural successor for Team USA. And he’s too frank to deny that he would be interested.

"First, it’s flattering to even be mentioned. Second, if they approach you, you say yes before they even get the question out of their mouth," Stevens said after yesterday’s practice. "Thirdly, I would hire somebody else because there’s a lot of better coaches than I am."

That mature and self deprecating response is just one example of why Stevens would be such a great choice.  He's got the coaching chops and the kind of personality that meshes with everyone from superstars to peanut vendors.  He's also got that polite, mid-westerner's demeanor that would make him a solid ambassador to the world.

Stevens raved about the opportunity to travel overseas this Fall and I'm sure he's take full advantage of any opportunity he had to soak up the cultures and basketball systems from around the world.

Oh yeah, and it would be a pretty sweet way for him to subtly recruit star free agents to Boston in a few years.  So there's also that.