Before Kara Lawson joined the Boston Celtics as an assistant coach in 2019, the University of Tennessee alum was expanding her knowledge of the NBA as a broadcaster, but had yet to make the leap to the other side of the clipboard after her playing days in the WNBA ended. Now head coach of Duke Women's Basketball, Lawson credited her time as an assistant under then-Celtics head coach and now President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens as a key part of what opened the door for her to take the helm at Duke.
And what, in particular, did she look to as most transformative for her in that time with Boston as an assistant? "His ability to empower those around him, to be able to not just contribute, but continue to develop and grow," she said in a recent
interview. "I was a first year assistant for him and everyone on his staff, he empowered to teach, to coach, to continue to grow (and) challenge you with the assignments that you're given and the presentations that you give in front of the team, and support you as well, support you in a way."
"And so now that I look back on it ... I wouldn't choose a different person to coach in my first year with, because I learned so many things that I look back on and I'm like 'Wow, I'm so glad I learned it this way.'"
"Because the stuff you learn in the formative years, you can change it," she continued. "It's true; how we were raised or how we were first taught a skill, like, you can change those things. But the ideal is that you learn it right the first time because it's grooved and you get a chance to really perfect it. "
"The choice to me is always learn it the best way the first time, and the way he treats people with respect, the way he develops camaraderie within the group, I had a really great time with him. I took a lot of how he coaches and how he deals with people. How he makes everybody feel a part of it, I think, is what I took from my time with him in Boston."
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: Kara Lawson on what she learned from Brad Stevens as a Boston Celtics assistant
